Final Round Fear
by Mockingbird Aria
Summary: Marcia "Missy" Mills had everything going for her; her and her pokémon were on their way to Contest fame. Then tragedy stuck and Marcia lost the fearless nature her fans knew her for. Now-traumatized and trying to move on-she flees her home in Hoenn for Kalos with her pokémon and the hope she can reclaim her courage. But how can she move on from something she can't remember?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_**Autumn**_

"Marcia!" her mother's voice called from beneath the ocean sounds.

"Marcia!" her father's voice echoed.

"Go away…" she muttered, just loud enough that only she could hear. For the past six months, that was all Marcia had wanted. She just wanted _everyone_ to go away. Why was it so hard for everyone to understand? All she wanted was to be left alone with her Pokémon… Why didn't anyone in the whole Hoenn region seem to understand? Not the reporters, not the psychiatrists, not her friends, and _especially_ not her family.

Why did they make her push them away?

She felt her warm, brown eyes prickle with tears. Every time she thought about her eyes, she remembered the confident luster they used to hold…

Anyway, it was hard enough before, when she could just sit locked away in their house on Slateport beach and only leave for doctor appointments or to go to her tree house/secret base, but then her parents tried to send her to school.

_School_. What in their right minds made them think that was a good idea? She'd been homeschooled ever since she was little; her and Maurice in a classroom of two. Then Dr. Little starts spewing things like "adapting," "normalcy," and "routine" and—all of a sudden—her parents are gung-ho about the whole "school" thing.

She _hated_ school. Everyone there recognized her and either wanted her autograph or tried to pity her. People immediately spirited her to the cool kids' table at lunch and offered her notes so she could catch up. Which—truth be told—wasn't nearly as bad as when people tried to pity her.

It just made Marcia so mad. Not the pity—she knew they were just trying to be nice—but the fact that they knew what happened to her and she didn't.

They'd seen it—on TV or their PokéNavs—but she'd been _there_ when it happened and she couldn't remember.

It was bad enough that she jumped at her own shadow, that she had to take medicine to prevent panic attacks, that she couldn't stand the thought of being around people—but being unable to remember _why_?

_That_ was the _worst_.

Just a year ago, she'd been a Contest Star. She was going to be the next Grand Contest Champion. She and her Pokémon were held a one-way ticket to stardom.

As she huddled in the orange twilight of her island secret base, her Pokémon pressing against her, she tried once again to remember how it all went so wrong…

_**Autumn: A Year Prior**_

"Today is the day," Marcia cheered to her Pokémon as she spun in her contest dress. She examined her reflection again. Her coffee-colored skin devoid of blemishes, her warm brown eyes glittering like they always did, her dark hair curled carefully atop her head… she radiated the simple elegance she was going for.

She looked around at the female competitors in the room, each at their own station, and shook her head. This was only her second season as a Competitor and she already had a better grasp on it than most of these girls. They wore gaudy outfits and flashy makeup. They didn't understand that their appearances should _add_ to their _Pokémon's _appearance, not highlight their own.

Marcia's outfit was simple: a long, red evening gown with orange lace bunched up like fire around her right knee and draping to the floor with matching gloves. She wore a gold necklace and matching, simple earrings. As for makeup, all she added was some mascara and dark lipstick and she was ready to go with nearly _half an hour_ to spare!

Most of the girls around her would be scrambling to finish their outfit at the five-minute warning, but all Marcia had to do was wait and relax.

Her vulpix, Pixel, leapt into her arms the second she sat down. The Pokémon looked up at her with shimmering, worried eyes. Her ribbon—a pretty bow that matched Marcia's outfit—bobbed as she pawed her trainer nervously.

"It's okay, Pixel," she assured the beautiful Pokémon, "I know you're the most junior member of the team, but you have this contest in the bag! Haven't we been training all year?" They really had. Marcia had handpicked Pixel from a breeder and put her on a strict diet. She'd trained Pixel to use her moves in a way that stressed her beauty and used _only_ the best products when she bathed her.

Pixel muttered nervously but seemed to settle down.

"Hey! Missy!" a girl called her, using her stage name.

Marcia looked over to the tiny blonde calling her and struggled to remember her name as she replied, "Hey… Patty!"

"Did you hear about Lisia's new talent?" the blonde replied. Marcia was just glad she remembered the girl's name.

"No," she answered truthfully, "I've been too busy training my Pokémon."

"I heard he's real hot stuff!"

"In more ways than one, I'm sure." If Marcia recalled, this was the same girl who'd flirted with the judges all season last year. Marcia wasn't sure if she was really trying to get an advantage or if she was just a flirt.

Still, Marcia knew to take Lisia's scouting seriously. Last season, the only reason she hadn't won the Grand Contest Spectacular was because one of Lisia's Competitors one-upped her.

"What about her?" Marcia asked Patty.

"_Him_, actually," Patty was quick to correct, "He's from Mauville. Do you know him?"

Marcia rolled her eyes, "Just because Slateport is only a bike ride away doesn't mean I know everyone in Mauville."

"I _know_, I just wanted to cover all my bases. Rumor has it the golden boy moved all the way from _Kalos_!"

Another girl pitched in, "I heard he only uses Fairy Types! Isn't that exotic?"

Marcia didn't thinks so, but that was probably due to the fact that her partner was a mawile.

A third jumped in, "My cousin's friend told me he's related to Champion Diantha!"

"The actress?! No way!"

They chittered on for a while as Marcia tuned them out. She settled into her pre-contest nirvana. She imagined the raucous audience's cheering, the skeptical judges knit-picking, the Pixel's burning moves' warmth, and the end result: her hoisting Pixel onto her shoulders and waving at the audience as the judges presented her the prize for her Normal-Rank Beauty Contest Victory.

She barely had time to revel in her inevitable victory when Patty called, "Missy!"

Marcia opened her eyes to find Patty right next to her, "Yeah?"

"Aren't you worried about Golden Boy?" she inquired.

"Nope," she answered without thinking. "Wary? Maybe. Watchful? Definitely. But worried?" She huffed a laugh, "_Nothing _worries me."

"Wow…" she heard a rookie breathe.

"She's so cool," another muttered.

Then the five-minute warning announcement came and the other girls scrambled to finish getting ready. Marcia smiled.

She smiled because she'd told Patty nothing but the truth.

_**Autumn: At the Present**_

She'd told Patty nothing but the truth. What if those rookies saw her now? The ones who thought her fearlessness had made her so cool…

Would they laugh at her? Pity her? Pity the girl she'd been that day?

Marcia hated this girl she'd become, the one too afraid to remember. How was she supposed to move on if she couldn't remember? Why couldn't her pesky, traumatized brain get that?

Pixel nudged Marcia's hand with her nose, even prettier than she'd been that day. She surveyed her other Pokémon. Tough Girl Mitzi the Mawile, Clever Boy Dexter the Breloom, Cutie Carlos the Eevee, and Cool Kid Leif the Grovyle. Each one stared at her with anticipation in their eyes.

Each seemed to be asking her, "What now?"

"Good question," she muttered in reply, "I have no idea."

Then she looked up at the Kalos Map Sebastian put on her wall what felt like a lifetime ago…

_One day, you and I'll go to Kalos and I'll show you all the sights. Every time I think up somewhere to visit, I'll put it on… this map._

Suddenly, an answer came to her.

It wasn't a plan—it was barely an idea—but it _was_ a start. Maybe… maybe all she needed was to get away for a while. Maybe Dr. Little was wrong about structure and school. Maybe all she needed was to go out into the world and _find_ her courage.

So she grabbed her PokéNav and bought a boat ticket. She grabbed her ready-packed travel bag and her wallet out of her purse. She ripped the map off the wall. She recalled her Pokémon, jotted a note on her favorite stationary, and padlocked her secret base's trapdoor. She pinned the note to it, knowing Maurice would find it after he ditched their parents to come to her secret base.

She read it one more time:

_Dear Family,_

_I've gotta go. School and structure won't help and neither will you. Don't take that the wrong way; I still love you._

_See you later, Marcia._

Then she was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_**Autumn: A Year Prior**_

_So _he's _Golden Boy, huh?_ Marcia observed, as she stood onstage with Pixel at her side. The judges went from Pokémon to Pokémon, trying to weed out the less qualified in favor of the four who'd move on to the appeal round. They'd stopped at a rookie with a blue florges. He had messy blonde hair and green eyes.

She'd looked him up just after the five-minute warning. She recognized his face, but struggled to recall his name. She was pretty sure his last name started with a 'z' and the fact his was the last Pokémon the judges looked at supported that. She'd always been bad with names…

Finally, the judges stepped back to their tables for the final selection and the Competitors took their cue. They all recalled their Pokémon and filed off stage.

As soon as she was clear of the audience, Marcia sidestepped out of the line and leaned against the wall, waiting for the new competition.

And she knew competition when she saw it. She'd been—in one way or another—exposed to Contests her whole life. She knew what the judges looked for during the Exhibition round and she knew that boy's florges had it all.

Patty was right. He _was_ hot stuff.

He was the last one offstage like he was the last in line.

"So," she greeted as she sashayed to his side, "Word in the dressing room is you're Lisia's latest Golden Boy."

"Nice to meet you, too," he replied, his voice dripping with irony.

Unfazed, Marcia continued, "So? Are you?"

"I moved from Kalos," he replied impassively, "We don't really _have_ contests there."

"_Oh_! So this is your big debut, huh?"

He shrugged, "Figured I'd try it out. Good way to meet new people."

Marcia thought about it for a minute before she replied, "I don't bite. There's no way you're a rookie."

"This is only your second year and _Contest Spectacular Special _put you as number two in their 'In It to Win It' section," he replied nonchalantly.

"Ha! That proves it," she jogged forward and turned to face him, walking backwards, "_You've_ done your research. This isn't something you're just 'trying out.'"

"I'm not the type to go half-heartedly into anything," he replied with a smirk, "Are you?"

"_Pfft!_ Just because I kick butt without trying doesn't mean I _don't_."

Marcia turned just as they left the tunnel.

"Then I guess I'll see you in the appeal round," he replied.

"If you make it, Golden Boy," Marcia replied as she diverted her course to the women's dressing room.

"That's not my name, you know," he called after her.

"I know," she stopped right before she opened the dressing room door and looked over her shoulder to say, "If you get to the appeal round, I'll _consider_ remembering it."

Then she was gone.

_**Autumn: At the Present**_

She did a lot of going, didn't she?

Marcia pondered this as she boarded the _S.S. Aqua_ in the harbor, walking her bike up the ramp.

She decided before she even made it to the harbor to bury her doubts about her trip. She had enough money to last her a while in Kalos and, if she ran out, she could always battle some weaker trainers for cash. She had plenty of Pokémon food to feed her team for at least a week, too. As far as she let herself know, that was all she needed to worry about.

The line backed up as some blonde girl with a green hat and glasses fumbled through her bag, trying to find her ticket. Marcia decided to plan her first stop on her Kalos adventure. The ship was docking at Coumarine City. Which—according to Sebastian's map—was only a short trek away from Shalour City to the west and Laverre City to the east.

Sebastian had annotated "Tower of Mastery" and "Just Freakin' Beautiful" over them, respectively. Of course, to go to Laverre, she'd have to go through Lumiose City, so maybe it'd be best to save that for later…

At the front of the line, the girl cheered, "Here it is!" and triumphantly held up her ticket, "I'm _so_ sorry about that!"

A few people towards the front sighed with relief as the crew let her on. She smiled nervously and apologized sincerely, but cheerfully to the people behind her as she stepped on.

This reminded Marcia, for some reason, of Patty.

_**Autumn: A Year Prior**_

"I'm sorry, Marshmallow," Patty apologized to her beautifly as Marcia pulled on her favorite hoodie, "Looks like we'll just have to win the next one. Oh! Missy! Congratulations on winning! It was rough out there today!"

"Thanks," Marcia replied as she walked into the dressing room, "And you don't have to tell me twice."

"I know, right? I knew the golden boy was going to be hard to beat but _whoa!_"

"He certainly packed a punch, if that's what you mean." He started out strong, immediately going for a petal dance. Mitzi ordered Pixel to retaliate with an inferno. They went back and forth for a while, until the other two competitors started to catch up. In the end, it'd been a photo finish and Marcia and Pixel won by just a hair.

Now Marcia tucked the prizes—a qualification ticket for Super-Level Beauty Contests and a twelve max revives—into her bag with a quick mental note stow the latter in her go-bag later.

The real prize, though, was the prideful gleam in Pixel's eye as she strutted around wearing the blue ribbon.

"Hey," Patty inquired, "Are you going to the Cuteness Contest next week?"

"No," Marcia replied, "I'm planning on heading to Vanderturf town for the toughness contest."

"That sounds cool! My parents would never let me go that far from Slateport. Whom are you entering with?"

"Mitzi the mawile, of course."

"Wait! You mean you didn't hear about the tag Contest?"

"What?"

Patty called Marshmallow into its pokéball as she explained, "In order to attract more spectators in Vanderturf, the Contest Board decided to make the first contests in each category there into tag Contests. They're making Competitors enter in groups of two."

Marcia blinked, "Really? Why didn't I hear about this?" She was a bit miffed with this development. She'd been choreographing Mitzi's appeals the whole off-season, now she'd have to change them.

"I know, right? I didn't hear about it until this morning, apparently it was all last minute. Can you believe it? I'd be more than happy to enter with you, but I entered early to next week's Contest already and, you know, _parents_."

Marcia thought about it for a minute. Who could she enter with? Of course, she didn't want to answer with some nobody. She'd need a partner _at least_ as good as she was.

Then Pixel walked by and it hit her: Golden Boy!

Marcia gathered her things, quickly changed, recalled Pixel, and rushed out of the room. She found him just as he was leaving the building.

"Hey!" she called, "Golden Boy! Wait up!" Halfway out the door, he stopped and turned.

"Hello again," he greeted, obviously somewhat confused, as she caught up, "Do you need something?"

"Yeah," she answered, "I need you and your toughest Pokémon to enter a Contest with me and mine next week. In Vanderturf."

He stepped back inside, away from the door, and replied, "First of all, why would I do that? Second, I just met you. Third, where's Vanderturf and what kind of name for a town _is that_?"

"Because you need the win just as much as I do, I know, to the Northwest, and I don't know."

He seemed to think about it for a few moments before he replied, "Alright, but I have one condition."

"Deal. What is it?"

He smirked, "My name is Sebastian. Make an effort to remember it this time."

_**Autumn: At the Present**_

_I won't_, Marcia thought, replying to the ghost in her head, _not ever_.

She was lying in her cabin (second class) on the bottom bunk, staring at the underside of the bed above her. She had the cabin to herself, so she could take the top bunk if she wanted, but she couldn't bring herself to.

The boat's rocking motion tempted her with sleep, but she wanted to be awake as they approached Kalos. She sat up to stay awake, knocking her bag on the ground in the process. As she did, the max revives—the same she'd won the day she met Sebastian—spilled out onto the floor.

Marcia recollected the max revives and counted them to make sure she picked the all up.

_Nine…ten…eleven… where's the twelfth?_ She searched under her bag, under the bed, under the furniture, through her bag… She couldn't find it anywhere. Had she dropped somewhere? Did she give it to someone? Not likely. Max revives were very rare and equally as expensive…

The beginning of a memory prickled in the back of her mind. Panic seized her throat and threatened to suffocate her. Her heart beat like it was about to explode. She collapsed on the floor and curled onto the floor, sobbing with fear.

Behind the anxiety, she heard the distinct sound of a pokéball opening. She felt Mitzi cuddle close to her, breathing calmly.

After a few minutes that felt like an eternity Marcia thought, _Mitzi—Tough Mitzi—will protect me. Nothing bad can happen while she's here…_ and began to calm down.

When the panic attack subsided and Marcia managed to sit up, Mitzi muttered a soothing sound and looked at her, obviously worried.

"I'm fine now," Marcia breathed, "Thank you, Mitzi. You really helped."

Marcia looked back toward the max revives. The panic attack told her all she needed to know about what happened to the twelfth max revive.

Something happened to it that day. The day she couldn't remember.

The day Sebastian died.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_**Autumn: At the Present**_

Marcia avoided the café, the main observation deck, all the ballrooms, and anywhere crowded. Basically, she was avoiding people in general. In reality, she didn't know if the whole "leave me alone" thing developed from her newfound fear or if she just wanted to avoid curious gazes and prying questions.

At first, it was _definitely_ due to the trauma. She knew this because she hadn't wanted to do _anything_ after Sebastian died—much less interact with people. It took all her energy to go to the funeral, but after that she only managed to slowly regain the will to live—among other things—after months of patient encouragement from her family. First came eating and drinking, then walking, then talking (though only to her Pokémon at first), then therapy, and so on, so on until she found herself on a boat to Kalos.

Still, the trauma lingered and kept her activities to a minimum. She'd eat and drink, though only when she had the appetite for it. She'd walk, but only to get from Point A to Point B or avoid her thoughts. She'd talk, but not more than she had to. In certain aspects, it seemed like she was a minimized version of the person she was six months ago.

And she _hated _that. She hated it so much, that she tried to keep herself away from everyone she knew so they couldn't tell the difference.

Finally, Marcia—Mitzi trailing dutifully behind—found a quiet place at the ship's stern. She overlooked the wake and watched as Hoenn faded into the horizon at a surprising speed. She leaned on the railing and gazed towards Slateport, which was quickly becoming nothing more than a speck of light on the horizon. The sun had set, leaving scarlet and orange hues in its own wake.

It made Marcia feel like something was just beginning to end. The thought made her feel sad and—much to her chagrin—afraid. Logic told her change wasn't necessarily bad, but since when had fear obeyed reason?

Mitzi pulled herself up to rest on the same railing Marcia leaned on so that her feet dangled over the deck and her arms were crossed like her trainer's. The Pokémon looked at her trainer before resting her chin on her arms, looking toward Hoenn.

"Mitzi," Marica began, "Why am I so afraid? I've never…you know I never used to be so scared… what happened that night? What am I so terrified of?"

Mitzi made some soothing sound, but—obviously—nothing substantial.

A song echoed from behind Mitzi, pouring out on a voice like warm milk…

_Mismagius cries in the dark woods,_

_The dark woods, the dark woods._

_Laments and evensongs_

_Sound both right and wrong_

_Right and wrong, right and wrong._

_Why do I fear the sweet tones and melodies?_

_Why do I fear the things I cannot see?_

_Is that darkness ahead?_

_Or light around a bend?_

_Uncertainties uncertainly_

_Bind…me…_

_**Autumn: A Year Prior**_

"Are you sure we won't be bothered here?" Sebastian inquired by way of greeting as Marcia found him sitting on her islet's shore. The cycling road's sounds whirred above and pedestrians pointed at the sign with "TEAM MAGMA RULES" sign that dominated the island's landscape.

"I'm sure, what's-your-face. I don't think anyone but me and my brother has set foot on this little scrap of land since the Magma grunt that painted the sign."

"I thought I told you to remember name."

"I won't with that attitude," Marcia quipped, "Not ever." Then she smiled to show she was only joking.

Sebastian shook his head and chuckled lightly, "I'm not sure I'd tolerate this with anyone else. I'm not a tolerant person."

"Oh?" Marcia readjusted her footing and smirked, "What makes me so special?"

"Not sure yet," he replied as he sat up, "but don't go thinking you're _that_ special. And might I recommend less flirting with the asexual person in your presence?"

"Who said I was flirting?" Marcia rebutted, unabashed.

"Your posture mostly," he answered, "are we going to practice or keep bantering?"

Marcia crossed her arm across her chest so her other elbow could rest on her fist as she lifted a finger to her chin. "Hmm… banter _is_ one of my favorite hobbies, but so is winning Contests. Decisions, decisions…"

That won more than a soft chuckle from Sebastian as he replied, "Well, my vote is practice. What do you have in mind?"

Marcia readjusted her stance as she answered soberly, "Honestly? Not much. I've been preparing Mitzi's appeals since the end of _last_ season and I haven't had time to think of any tag-team stuff. I was kinda banking on you having something."

"That's wasn't the best plan considering I'm a complete rookie. Pretty much all I did to prepare for that last contest was read the rulebook and a few magazines and teach Violet some pretty moves."

Marcia sighed, "That's not good considering we have barely a week to prepare and nothing to go on."

"Not _nothing_," Sebastian contradicted, "You said you were working on appeals for a while. Why don't you show me what you've got alone, then we'll figure out away to incorporate my goodra, and see what we can do?"

Marcia's smile returned, "Sounds like a plan." She pulled out Mitzi's pokéball and warned, "You might want to stand back."

With a flourish, Marcia threw the pokéball in the air and called out Mitzi. The Pokémon twirled and landed on her feet with an acrobat's grace.

Marcia pointed toward some driftwood and called out, "Double Iron!" Mitzi instantly threw herself forward with Double-edge and—after slamming into the wood—she turned back and smashed it with an Iron Head.

"Giga-Crush!" Marcia ordered, pointing towards another stray piece of driftwood. Mitzi responded with a Giga Impact immediately followed with Crunch. The only thing left of the driftwood was a pile of splinters.

Sebastian nodded, "Even I can tell that was pretty impressive."

"Really?" Marcia responded, disappointed, "Come on! I didn't even get to our Iron Head/Giga Impact combo! The audience _loves_ that one!"

"Just hear me out; I think we have a good base with those appeals, but we don't want to get too flashy with Mitzi. Then there won't be any room for Torrent—my goodra."

Marcia nodded with understanding. "Guess we should get this show on the road, then."

_**Autumn: At the Present**_

Marcia stopped herself before the memories turned dark. She looked down at the slight Pokémon, known to crush the un-crushable—like she had with the driftwood. No one could tell if they looked at her then, with the fading twilight shimmering on her fur and sparkling with thoughts Marcia could only imagine.

Marcia pushed herself off the bar and wrapped her arms around her partner Pokémon. She lifted Mitzi onto the stern so they were closer to the same height and rested her chin on her Pokémon's head. The fake jaws behind Mitzi draped over Marcia's shoulder.

For a few moments, Marcia felt clear-headed as she listed to the song behind her and watched the last daylight fade.

_No shuppet gather here_

_Gather here, gather here._

_There is no vengeance in my heart_

_In my heart, in my heart_

_Only sorrow and fear_

_I don't understand why it creeps so near._

_Is this panic? _

_Or have I gone stoic?_

_Why don't my feelings_

_Match the…_

_Memories?_

The singer stopped suddenly. Marcia didn't understand why until she felt a presence behind her.

Quickly, she snapped around to face the presence and tightened her grip on Mitzi. There was a time where she'd glower at the unexpected and unwanted presence, but now she could only manage a gasp and make a panicked face.

A hex maniac stood only inches from her face. Marcia somehow knew she was the singer before she opened her mouth and the milk-like voice—or a taunting mockery of it—poured out.

"You…" the Hex Maniac began, "You…you. You. You, You, You, youyouyouyouyouyou..."

"Me what?!" Marcia demanded, afraid of the crazy girl.

The girl only seemed to notice her a second later, "Youyouyouyouyou… 'Me what?' Me nothing. I said 'you,' and you are…" she leaned in even closer and examined Marcia's face. She held Mitzi tighter as the Hex Maniac continued, "lying!"

Marcia stuttered, "A-about—?"

The girl cut her off with raucous cackling and spun away before Marcia could finish. Just when Marcia thought to call the ship's security, the Hex Maniac vanished around a bend.

Mitzi squirmed slightly against Marcia's grip.

"Oh! Sorry!" Marcia apologized as she set the Pokémon down.

Mitzi looked up at her as if demanding, "What was that about?"

"I don't even know," Marcia replied, staring in the direction the Hex Maniac had run.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

_**Autumn: A Year Prior**_

"Nailed it!" Marcia sung as she led Mitzi off the Vanderturf Stage and toward the dressing rooms. She turned to Sebastian and continued, "Did you see the judges? Their jaws went through the floor when you called out Torrent! Dude. I knew shiny Pokémon were impressive, but they were absolutely _dumbstruck!_"

"Don't flatter me," Sebastian replied with a smile, "You _know_ Mitzi scored us more points. You'd never think something so cute could be so tough."

"Yeah, we get that a lot." She grew more serious as she continued, "It'll take them a bit to make it official, though. Do you wanna go over the sets a bit?"

"No, I think we should Mitzi and Torrent rest. If we're not ready by now, we'll never be."

"Good. I was afraid you were starting to get stage fright," she joked as they recalled their Pokémon.

"Me?" he held a hand dramatically to his chest and mocked offence, "_Bah!_ I'll have you know _I_ am a Thespian! I _live_ for the stage."

"Really? I didn't peg you as the dramatic type," she elbowed him for emphasis.

"Well," he elbowed her back, "I'm only dramatic around my friends."

"_Ooh!_ Am I in the friend club now?" Marcia threw her voice into a higher pitch and mocked excitement, "Wow! I am _so _honored!"

"Good. You should be," Sebastian laughed.

They'd just reached the dressing rooms when the TV monitors in hall changed screens to the Contest Spectacular logo.

The host cheered, "And welcome back to the Vandrturf Tag Contest Spec-TAAAAAC-U-_LAAAAAAAR_!"

The crowed cheered back as Marcia observed, "That's weird. It normally takes them longer to pick who goes on to the next round…"

"You worried?" Sebastian inquired just to mess with her.

"_No_," she answered, because it worked, "We're still a shoe-in; it's just weird."

"Starting off our appeal round," the host began, "Is… Missy and Sebastian with Mitzi the Mawile and Torrent the Goodra!" The TV's speakers whined a mockery of the cheers thundering around them. It reminded Marcia that they were right under the bleachers.

"First place!" Marcia cheered, "What did I say? Go Team!"

They high-fived as the announcer continued, "Second, we have Mike and Mitch with Ratty the Rattata and Neon the Kadabra! Third we have Felix and Felecia with Vivi the Victreebel and Sunny the Ludicolo! Finally we have Sally and Lilly with Wally the Walrein and Ally the Absol!"

"Hey! What gives?" Sebastian exclaimed, "What happened to that other pair? The ones using a Skunktank and a Pinser? Even I could tell they were _leagues _better than Sally and Lilly."

"I don't know," Marcia replied, "Maybe they got disqualified for something. Do you think it has anything to do with why the time was so short?"

"Why don't you ask? They should be in the girls' dressing room and we still have a few minutes before the curtain call."

"Good idea. You wait here. I'll be right back."

Marcia stepped into chaos when she opened the door to the girl's dressing room. There was shouting and the sound of things breaking from the other side of the folding screen. A Pokémon cried in alarm as Marcia folded the screen back.

Four girls were entangled in a fight. Marcia was barely able to make out what was going on amidst the chaos.

Even though she'd already figured it out, Felecia—who was perched under the counters and clutching her pokéball—provided an answer, "Something happened to Millie and Diana's online entry papers to get them disqualified! They accused Sally and Lilly of changing them! Make them stop, Missy!"

Marcia, exasperated, rushed forward and managed to pull the pairs apart after a few good stray blows to her shoulder and gut.

"_ENOUGH!_" she shouted when they tried to charge each other again, "There's nothing anyone can do to fix it now!" she eyed Millie and Diana, "I'm sorry this happened, but if you guys have a problem, take it up with the Contest Board!" She addressed all four with her closing statement, "This is _not_ the way Competitors are supposed to act, got it?"

Reluctantly, the four girls agreed.

"Good. Now let's clean this place up before they revoke our dressing room privileges."

_**Autumn: At the Present**_

After the Hex Maniac had ruined the mood, Marcia and Mitzi headed back to their room. Marcia had let her thoughts drift again. She used to smile at the memory of the fight in Vanderturf and her first contest with Sebastian, but now every memory with him was tinted with grief.

She felt like she was a living, endless funeral procession.

Now, sitting in her bed trying to shake the intruding memories out of her head, she decided to feed her Pokémon. She'd just reached for her bag when a knock at the door made her jump. Mitzi perked up, sensing Marcia's alarm.

Cautiously and quietly, Marcia stepped to the door and peered through the peephole. She was surprised when she saw the girl with the green hat, the one who'd held up the boarding line.

"U-um," the girl said through the door, "I'm sorry to bother you so late—even though, I guess, it isn't _that_ late—but—and this is _so_ embarrassing—I lost my room key and was hoping I could use your cabin's phone to call the front desk."

"Why don't you just go to the front desk?" Marcia replied skeptically.

"Um… I kinda…" she muttered something inaudible.

"What?"

"I…forgot where the front desk is…"

Truthfully, Marcia wanted to tell her to buzz off. If she hadn't seen her on the gangplank earlier, she might have.

Marcia reluctantly opened the door and let her in.

"Oh my God, thank you _so, so_ much!" the girl cheered as she entered the room. She went straight for the phone and dialed the front desk.

"Hello? Hi! My name is Bianca Belle. I'm staying in room one-two-four, but I lost my room key. I'm calling from room…" she looked at the tiny directory attached to the phone, "one-two-five. Could you pretty please bring me a key? …You can't find my name? Um… is it under Aurea Juniper? …Okay. Then what about Augustine Sycamore? …You found it? Great! I'll wait in room one-two-five," she looked up at Marcia and added, "if that's okay with you."

Marcia reluctantly nodded and Bianca smiled, "Great! Thanks so much, bye!" she hung up.

"I'm Bianca, by the way," she introduced properly, "What's your name?"

"I'm…Marcia," she answered with no shortage of trepidation.

"Marcia? That's such a pretty name! _Ooh!_ And who's this cutie here?"

She knelt down to get a closer look at Mitzi, who was standing between her and Marcia.

"That's Mitzi," Marcia answered, "my partner."

"Oh!" Bianca shot up, startling Marcia and causing Mitzi to yip a protest, "You're a trainer? Me too! I started on my journey—oh, when was it—seven years ago? But now I'm on my way to getting my graduate degree. I'm going to be a Pokémon professor like my mentors, Professor Juniper and Professor Sycamore. I'm writing my thesis on Mega Evolution, which is why I came to Hoenn in the first place and why I'm working in Kalos right now even though I live in Unova."

"U-um…" Marcia stuttered, annoyingly uncertain.

"Anyway, enough about me. What about you, Marcia? Why are you going to Kalos?"

"Vacation… kind of…"

"Really? Wow! You picked a good place to vacation! Kalos is absolutely _beautiful_! I've travelled all over it with Professor Sycamore and it _never_ ceases to amaze me!"

"That's good."

Bianca seemed to pick up on something and continued slower, "Am I making you anxious? I'm sorry. I have that effect on some people," she laughed nervously. "Anyway… Where are you planning on going first?"

"I'm thinking Shalour…"

"Really? That's where I'm heading!" Bianca caught herself again and slowed down, "I've been there a few times—it's where all the experts on Mega Evolution live. If you want, I could show you around."

"No thanks," Marcia answered quickly, "I think I need to be alone for this…vacation."

"Okay. But, here," she shuffled through her purse before pulling out a small box. She opened the case and pulled out a business card. She continued, "If you need anything while you're in Kalos, feel free to call me."

"…Thanks," Marcia replied. The small gesture made her feel strangely happy.

Before Bianca could say anything else, there was a knock on the door.

"Ms. Belle?" a voice greeted, "I have your spare room key."

_**Autumn: A Year Prior**_

After breaking up the fight and helping clean up the dressing room, Marcia and Sebastian were finally back on stage with the other three pairs.

"Wanna start strong?" Sebastian asked with a smile.

"I never start any other way," Marcia replied. She turned to Mitzi, "Giga Impact!"

Sebastian called, "Superpower!"

Mitzi leapt into the air and slammed toward Torrent. At last second, Torrent countered with Superpower. Mitzi went flying into the air and landed deftly on Torrent's head.

The crowd went wild. Marcia and Sebastian watched as they racked up points.

"And so it begins," Marcia muttered with a confident smirk.

Next up, Neon and Ratty used a lackluster take down/double edge combo. Then Vivi and Sunny countered with an interesting double giga impact appeal. Finally, Wally and Ally rounded out the last appeal with a body slam/torment appeal that went over unusually well with the audience.

Mitzi and Torrent started up the next round. Mitzi couldn't move from the giga impact, so she stood back as Torrent used a very impressive body slam.

Next, Wally and Ally took the stage. Sally and Lilly looked at each other and nodded. Wally let loose a torrential blast of icy water as Lilly reached for her necklace. A violet light emanated from Ally, reflecting off the water and ice.

With a blast, Ally Mega Evolved and let loose a pulse of shadows. The crowd went ballistic.

"Wait," Sebastian called over the din, "That's allowed?!"

"Yeah," Marcia grumbled, "The crowd loves a good Mega Evolution."

Sebastian looked thoughtfully at Mitzi as the other two pairs performed. Then he took off his watch—a huge thing with date markers and engraved with his initials—and handed it to Marcia.

"Put this on," he ordered.

"Okay…" Marcia took it and put it on as he pulled a small case out of his wallet. He removed a small pink, gray, and yellow stone out of the case and handed it to Marcia.

"Wait a second," Marcia began, as the next round started with their turn last, "Is this Mawilite? Does that mean…" she took a closer look at the watch. Sure enough, a Keystone was imbedded in center of the watch, where the hands met.

"You see where I'm going with this, right?" Sebastain inquired, "Just focus on your relationship with Mitzi and touch the Keystone."

Marcia smiled and called to Mitzi, "Catch!" just as their turn started. Mitzi caught the Mawilite with little effort.

"Torrent! Use dragon tail!"

"Mitzi! Iron-crunch!" Torrent slammed his tail into the stage and Mitzi followed by crushing the wreckage between her massive fake jaws and slamming her head into it. Finally, she landed gracefully and held up the Mawilite.

"Mega Evolve!" Marcia called. With a flourish, she touched the stone and focused on her memories of Mitzi: hatching her from an egg she'd gotten for Christmas, cooking her special food, training tirelessly… She felt a strange energy radiate from the Keystone and connect to the Mawilite. The energy enveloped Mitzi and glowed brightly.

The energy burst, revealing Mitzi's Mega-Evolved form. She cried out formidably and flexed the two giant jaws on the back of her head.

The crowd screamed like a bunch of madmen.

"Let's show them what we've got!" Marcia called.

Torrent let loose a blast of draconian aura. Mitzi spun like a giant, metal top. She picked up the aura as she zipped across the stage, bouncing across every obstacle like a giant pinball. Finally, she came to a stop right next to Torrent and they stood back-to-back. Marcia had never heard louder cheering in her life.

After that, there was no real contest. Sebastian and Marcia won by a landslide.

_**Autumn: At the Present**_

That had been the day Marcia realized Sebastian was her new best friend. They'd been so in sync not only with each other, but with Mitzi and Torrent as well. It'd also been the first time she'd ever Mega Evolved a Pokémon.

She rolled over in her bed, hugging Mitzi closer to her.

At that moment, Mitzi had only thought of it as a cool trick. So how did she know it was so much more than that now?

Another almost-memory gripped her heart. Flashes of something vague and vile—like memories of a nightmare she didn't remember having—burned in her mind's eye.

_Blood, her hands covered with it. Reaching for his unmoving wrist. Opening her bag. Throwing Mitzi's pokéball. The voice of a wounded beast._

Marcia hugged her Pokémon tighter as fear seized her.

What happened to Sebastian? What happened to her?


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_**Autumn: At the Present**_

Marcia managed to avoid the ship's breakfast buffet during the initial rush the next morning, but it quickly began to fill up again as she threw together her meager breakfast. Bagel in hand, she managed to slip through the crowds without confrontation.

She found her way back to the stern and sat down, her back against the same railing she'd looked over the night before. After checking to see the Hex Maniac was nowhere in sight, she called out her team.

They stretched and immediately turned to Marcia to see what her orders were. When they realized she was just relaxing, they began to unwind themselves. Pablo pounced on Pixel playfully and Mitzi pranced over to sit next to Marcia. Leif reclined in the sun nearby. Dexter looked around awkwardly before Pablo and Pixel dragged him into their game.

Marcia sighed. It was a beautiful day, the Pokémon were enjoying themselves, and she felt happy for once. If she closed her eyes, she could almost imagine Sebastian sitting next to her and his Pokémon among the mix.

And the thought actually made her feel nice. The memories in her head didn't feel so tainted.

_**Winter: Eleven Months Prior**_

"…Then Dexter finished with this _amazing_ toxic/worry seed appeal we've been perfecting and you could just _see_ the other Pokémon give up," Marcia finished as she reached for another pizza slice.

It was an unusually warm day, so she and Sebastian had decided to have a picnic on her secret base's island. They hadn't seen each other for a week and it felt weird to need to catch up. They'd spent almost every day together since they won the Vanderturf Contest, then Sebastian had to go visit his uncle in Kalos.

"It would be sad if it weren't so awesome," Marcia concluded.

"I wish I'd seen it, but they don't exactly have the _Contest Spectacular Channel_ in Kalos," he replied. "Now you're a whole ribbon ahead of me." Marcia had collected nine wins, two in each category except beauty. So far she had a perfect season.

"What did all your Kalos buddies think of your new hobby?" Marcia inquired.

"I don't think they quite got it," he replied, "but they seemed interested in the concept."

Marcia rolled her eyes and groaned, "_Kalos_," in mock disgust.

Sebastian laughed and gave her a shove.

"All that aside," he continued with a less jovial tone, "I wanted to ask you. When my ship docked in Slateport, I overheard some people talking about some strange rumors circulating around the Contest circuit. What's this about a saboteur?"

Marcia groaned and fell dramatically onto her back, "Not you too!" She sighed and continued, dragging her hands down her face, "Apparently, while I was in Fallabor, a bunch of Pokémon competing in the Hyper-rank Coolness Contest in Slateport got food poisoning after eating from a complementary buffet. A bunch of people had drop out before the primary judging even finished. When the Competitors demanded to know who provided the food, the Contest Board claimed they hadn't _hired _a caterer or even provided the buffet.

"A bunch of people put that together with all the glitches they've had this season with the online applications and started spreading all these _conspiracy theories_ that someone's sabotaging Pokémon contests. They're getting _really_ ridiculous. I heard one just yesterday, it involved Team Magma and some alien nonsense. Can you believe it?"

Sebastian seemed to ponder this for a minute before he asked her, "What do _you_ think?"

"Honestly? I think the Contest Spectacular website is just glitch-y and the Slateport people covered their butt when they realized they'd hired a bad caterer. Everyone is just being paranoid."

"So you're not worried?"

"_Pfft_, it'll take more than a stupid rumor to deter _me_."

Sebastian smiled, "Then I won't be worried either. Hey? Have you ever seen a noivern try to get a toy away from a sableye? It's _really_ entertaining."

_**Autumn: At the Present**_

Marcia didn't want the moment to end; she almost felt like her old self. Feeling confident, she pulled out Sebastian's map and planned her trip.

_After Shalour, I'll head to Geosenge Town,_ she decided. _Then I'll head to this beach and check out Glittering Cave…_

A familiar Pokémon cry pierced Marcia's thoughts. She looked up to see a sableye snickering near where Leif lounged. With pleasant memories of Sebastian still in her head, she almost thought it was Polter. Then she banished the thought. That was impossible. Sebastian's sableye was in Lumiose with the rest of his team.

Then she watched as Leif perked up, sensing the sableye's presence. He jumped up and retaliated with a warning crush claw. To Marcia's surprise, the move hit.

The sableye's appearance wavered and warped until a tiny zorua stood there instead of the ghost-type Pokémon.

The familiar warm-milk voice appeared out of thin air, "Naughty, tricky, foxy Zory!" The Pokémon snickered at the sound of the voice. A dark blur dashed past Marcia and scooped up the zorua. The Hex Maniac from the night before cackled as she spun around with the zorua in her hands.

She stopped and held her face right up to the zorua's, singing, "Running and sneaking is naughty, _naughty_! But I found you, found you!" They snickered together as if sharing some inside joke.

Then the Hex Maniac noticed Marcia and looked at her, whispering, "Look, Zorua, it's the Liar!"

"I haven't lied about anything," Marica defended. In the full light of day, the Hex Maniac didn't seem so scary.

"Yes, yes, yes you have," The Hex Maniac sang, "You just don't know it yet. But you will…" she snickered again.

Marcia felt uneasy. She wished the creepy girl would leave, but instead she took a seat next to Mitzi.

"I'm Melody," the Hex Maniac introduced, "This is Zorua. She's a tricky one."

"I'm Marcia," she replied, "are you following me?"

"No, no, _no_! I don't follow people. I follow other things that are occasionally _attached_ to people. Like auras! Or stories!"

"_Okay_…"

"I like you. You're story is very… _interesting, _I think_._"

"Um… thanks?"

Melody looked at her closer, leaning over Mitzi to get into Marcia's face.

She muttered, "Curious…" Then she leapt to her feet and unceremoniously walked away.

"Well," Marcia mumbled, "bye."

_**Winter: Eleven Months Prior**_

Marcia was getting ready for the Super Beauty Contest in Lilycove when Sebastian burst into the dressing room.

"Marcia!" he exclaimed. Several girls shrieked and dived behind cover.

"Sebastian?" she spun to face him, "What are you doing here? I thought you were competing in the Contest in Slateport."

"I _was_ until someone _mugged_ me!"

"What?!" Marcia exclaimed, "Are you alright? What are you doing here? Why aren't you talking to the police?"

"I'm fine. I'm here to talk to you. And I already _did_, but I'm freaking out!"

"What did they take?"

"Two of my Pokémon, Mimi and Polter. Oh, and my Pokénav."

"Oh my god. In _Slateport_? There haven't been any Pokémon thieves there since Team Magma robbed the museum… Never mind that. What can I do to help?"

"I need to borrow your Pokénav."

Marcia blinked, "Um…what?"

Sebastain groaned and quickly explained, "All my Pokémon have tracking chips. I downloaded the app onto your Pokénav a while ago and connected my Pokémon's chips to it. I'd use my parents', but they're back in Kalos."

"Okay. Give me a minute to change and we can head back to Slateport." Marcia grabbed her bag and ducked behind a screen.

"We? You don't need to miss your contest. I can handle this on my own."

"Excuse me?" Marcia argued as she pulled her favorite sweater over her head, "You're down two Pokémon and _clearly_ quite flustered. There'll be a few more Beauty Contests this season, but there's only _one_ of Mimi and Polter." She stepped back around the screen in her casual attire, though she still wore her makeup and jewelry, and finished, "Besides, did you really think I was going to let you chase down bad guys without back up?"

Sebastian sighed with resignation and conceded, "Fine. You have a point. A few points, actually. Ladies first."

Marcia smiled and led the way.

_**Autumn: At the Present**_

Marcia hesitated at the end of the gangplank. In an attempt to avoid social interaction, she was literally the last person to get off the ship.

Now, however, she wished there was a line behind her to jostle her along or at least loom over her. Then the action of this last step might seem less…final.

She didn't know when she'd go back to Hoenn. She didn't know when—or even if—she'd contact her family. She didn't know what she'd do for money if she stayed longer than a week or even how long she was staying in Kalos.

To Marcia, stepping off that gangplank felt like signing off on something she knew nothing about. The thought was terrifying.

But that was why she was doing this, wasn't it? Because she was sick of her perpetual unease, tired of being the living funeral procession. She'd proven earlier that it _was _possible to remember Sebastian without being miserable. She just had to get to a point where that was the norm.

In defiance of her fear, she took a deep breath and stepped off the boat.

_**Winter: Eleven Months Prior**_

The frigid wind whipped Marcia's hair as she and Sebastian circled over Slateport on his noivern, Vamp's back. She was trying to get a reading on the tracker app. When they got within range, she tapped Sebastian's shoulder.

"Land here!" she shouted over the wind.

Sebastian nodded and sent Vamp into a controlled descent. They touched down and he recalled his Pokémon.

"Your app says Mimi and Polter should be somewhere on this street," Marcia informed.

"What is that smell?" Sebastain moaned, reaching for his nose.

"What smell?" Marcia inhaled. "Oh! Gross! It smells like vomit."

"I guess using our Pokémon to track their smell is out of the question. This stench would cover everything up."

Marcia nodded and dug two flashlights out of her bag. She handed one to Sebastian and said, "Let's get looking."

They walked down the dark street, shining their flashlights into every crevasse. Every now and again, Marcia would check the app on her Pokénav to no avail. They were too close and the signal just wasn't accurate enough.

Marcia heard a skittering and turned to face the noise's source. She saw a zigzagoon scurry away from the edge of her flashlight's beam. The motion made her turn again and she caught sight of a familiar gleam in a trash pile.

She edged closer and moved some trash bags out the way.

"Sebastain!" she called as she shined her light on Polter's gem-eyes, "I found Polter! He looks sick!"

Marcia inhaled with the effort involved in moving the Pokémon into a more comfortable position and noticed how strong the vomit smell was.

When she moved Polter, she noticed Mimi leaning against the wall and sitting in a puddle of vomit. She looked just as sick as Polter. Her heart went out to the Pokémon that was the same species as Mitzi and she moved her, too. She tried her best to ignore the vomit as Sebastian jogged over.

"What's wrong with them?" Sebastian demanded, kneeling next to his beloved Pokémon.

"I don't know," Marcia answered, "They were sitting in a puke puddle I'm ninety percent sure was there own."

"They were in the _garbage_?"

Marcia nodded, "If I find out who did this, I'll help you pound their face in."

"Thanks," Sebastian smiled sadly, "Now let's get these guys to the Pokémon Center."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

_**Winter: A Year Prior**_

Marcia waited in the Pokémon Center's lobby until midnight. After what felt like eons, Sebastian returned. She rushed up to him and gave him a hug, hoping to comfort him.

"How are they?" she asked mid-hug.

"The doc says they're going to be alright," Sebastian answered. Then he pulled away, "but, Marcia, listen to this: I overheard some nurses talking while I was back there. Apparently, this isn't the first time something like this has happened."

"Wait," Marcia could feel her face contort with shock and disgust, "Are you trying to tell me there's some psycho out there serial poisoning Pokémon?!"

Sebastian shook his head, "Not just _any_ Pokémon, Marcia. _Contest _Pokémon."

"Oh. My. God. Are you serious?!"

He shushed her, "Keep your voice down. Would I really kid about something like this?"

"I didn't mean it that way. I just can't believe it." She sat down in the nearest stool, leaning against the table it accompanied. "So all those rumors about a saboteur are true then?"

"Maybe not," Sebastian answered calmly as he sat across from her, "They could be isolated incidents. But that doesn't change the fact that there _is_ a serial poké-napper/poisoner on the loose."

"What are the cops are doing about this?"

"The nurses mentioned something about a detective and investigation, but I don't think they were getting anywhere."

"Now _that_ doesn't surprise me." Marcia scoffed as she leaned back, "The Slateport PD _sucks_. After all, they didn't do _crap_ when Team Magma tried to steal from the museum a while back. It was some kid who chased them off."

Sebastian leaned on the table, toward Marcia, "That begs the question: what are _we _going to do?"

"I don't know what we _can _do," she admitted with a shrug, "But we obviously can't sit back and do nothing. My first impulse is to tell the other Competitors, but that might cause a panic, alert the killer, and whatever else they say on crime shows."

"I guess we should do some investigating on our own. Between the two of us we might be able to dig up _something _the police can use."

"Now _that_ sounds like a plan," Marcia answered with a grin.

"But before we do anything I need you to _promise_ that we'll go to the cops the _second_ things start to get too dangerous, alright? There's no point in getting ourselves killed."

"Alright, Alright," Marcia joked, "No need to be such a killjoy."

Sebastian raised his voice for the first time she could recall, "Marcia! I'm _serious_!" He sighed and lowered his voice, looking at her apologetically.

Marcia was stunned. She hadn't expected such an outburst.

"I'm sorry," Marcia replied, sincerely apologetic, "I knew you were serious. I shouldn't have tried to make light of it. Don't worry, I promise."

_**Autumn: At the Present**_

Marcia decided not to dwell on the now-ironic memory as she pedaled her bike down the route from Coumarine City to Shalour. Instead, she forced herself to take in the sights.

Bianca was right; Kalos was beautiful. There was nothing on the route except a ranch and it was still stunning.

Happily, she let herself muse, _If this is what the middle-of-nowhere-Kalos looks like, then I can't wait to see the _real_ sights!_

Suddenly, a high-pitched voice ripped away her thoughts, "Look out!"

Marcia gasped and squeezed the brakes on her bike as a furfrou bounded in front of her. Her bike slid to a halt as a little girl ran to catch up to her pet.

"Sorry!" the little girl apologized as she led her Pokémon away, scolding it.

Forlornly, Marcia recalled Sebastian's mother's furfrou, Fluffy, as she continued to pedal. It had jumped up on him every time he walked through the door. When Marcia went to the funeral reception at his parent's apartment, Fluffy had run up when she walked in the door, excited because—in his canine mind—her presence meant Sebastian wasn't so far behind.

She'd watched, as—for the rest of the evening—it would run to greet everyone who opened the door only to return a moment later feeling dejected and disappointed. She wondered if Fluffy still expected Sebastian to come home.

All Marcia could do was pedal faster and faster. She could see the beginnings of the Tower of Mastery's outline in the sky. She let herself believe that the tears in her eyes were due to the wind.

_**Winter: Eleven Months Prior**_

"Hey, Fluffy," Sebastian greeted as they walked through his apartment door. A furry, white furfrou jumped up to greet him as he led Marcia through the door.

"It just occurred to me," Marcia realized, "I've never been to your apartment before. In fact, I've never met your parents before."

"Yeah, they're pretty busy," he answered as the furfrou approached her.

"Sebastian?" a booming voice called from the next room over, "That you?"

"No," Sebastian called back ironically, "I'm an evil spirit who possessed your son and is coming to steal your soul."

The voice boomed a laugh and Sebastian's father appeared from the kitchen. Marcia thought he resembled a landmass. A landmass wearing an apron, covered with flour, and mixing some kind of dough.

"Dad, Marcia," Sebastian introduced, "Marcia, Dad."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Zephyr," Marcia greeted, holding out her hand.

"Please, call me Paul," he insisted as he shook her hand, "Make yourself at home."

Marcia wiped the second-hand flour on her jeans and looked around. The apartment looked the kind of tidy-but-lived-in way that suggested at least one resident was a neat freak. Based on the baking chaos that was the kitchen, Marcia guessed that it wasn't Paul.

"You know Mom doesn't like it when you bring your work home," Sebastian reminded his father.

"Don't worry, kiddo," he assured, "I'll clean it up when I'm done."

"Work?" Marcia parroted.

"Dad's a pastry chef," Sebastian informed.

"Currently," Paul added, "I am experimenting with a new recipe."

"Mom doesn't like it when he does this because he always has a _ton_ of leftovers. Mom eats them and then she feels like she has to spend the majority of her free time working our for a week."

"You cruel man," Marcia accused Paul.

"What's so cruel about pastries?!" he rebutted in a tone that made Marcia think he got that a lot.

"Anyway," Sebastian began as he led Marcia away, "we're going to be in my room doing research on a string of serial Pokémon kidnappings-slash-poisonings."

"Alright," Paul called after them, "Nothing too dangerous, okay?"

"Okay."

_**Autumn: At the Present**_

Paul's condition echoed in her mind. Sometimes, the things she _could_ remember hurt more than the agony her constant, inexplicable fear provided. She whirred through the gated entryway to Shalour City, past the Pokémon center, and ignored countless other buildings. She didn't care where she was going as long as it was away from this misery.

_Nothing too dangerous, okay?_

The sting of autumn's sunset chill worried at the tear marks on her face. She reached up with one hand to wipe off her face, but in that exact moment her bike's front tire lodged itself on a loose cobblestone and—unable to reassert control—sent her careening over a banister.

Below her, a beach hurdled closer. She didn't even think to scream. She closed her eyes and prayed it wouldn't hurt too much.

Then, Marcia heard a familiar shriek. Suddenly, her whole body jerked into the air. She gasped and opened her eyes to see the beach floating away. Just as she thought to look up and identify her unknown hero, she was suddenly thrown back into the air.

Disoriented, she found herself on a soaring noivern's back. The Pokémon looked back at her and Marcia felt recognition slap her face like a bucket of cold water.

"Vamp?!" she exclaimed over the rushing wind.

In reply, Sebastian's Pokémon called out gleefully and did a quick spin in the air. Marcia shouted with shock and a little glee and clung tighter to the Pokémon.

The noivern, apparently hyper with joy, took Marcia on an aerial tour of Shalour City. It dipped low enough over the bay that Marcia could slip her fingers into the sea foam and soared over the dusk-hued buildings.

Vamp stayed true to his course as if he'd flown it a million times before. Finally, he spiraled around the Tower of Mastery. From up close, Marcia took in every detail. She could see the intricate architecture, the beautiful materials. If she looked hard enough, she could almost see the history woven in every detail.

Most importantly, though, she felt like Sebastian was right behind her. She felt so close to him, she thought she should be able to turn around and smile at him. She felt like he was _showing her_ this beautiful scene himself.

She didn't feel alone.

Finally, just after sunset, Vamp landed right where she'd toppled. She dismounted the Pokémon and picked up her bike, leaning it against the very banister she'd flown over not half an hour earlier. Then she reached over and wrapped the Pokémon in a hug.

"How are you here?" she asked Vamp into his chest. "You're supposed to be in Lumiose with Sebastian's uncle…"

A voice cut through the moment, "Hey! Hands off my Pokémon, lady!"

A brutish hand gripped her shoulder and pulled her off Vamp. The Pokémon shrieked in protest. Marcia was afraid as she took in the aggressor.

He was massive and brutish, but had none of the familiar air of Paul. His hair was messy, but in greasy way. His eyes were blue, like Sebastian's mother's, but they were full of anger and a wanton lack of discipline.

He was such a cruel mockery of everything that reminded her of Sebastian that her anger outweighed her fear and a ray of the original Marcia shined through. Her heart still beat with fear, her palms still felt sticky with sweat, but she still stood up. She still stared the man in the eyes and she still let loose every flicker of fury she held at that moment.

Marcia smiled pleasantly and pulled out her Pokénav. She poked at the screen a few times and showed him the screen.

"He," Marcia began, still beaming, "is _not._ Your. Pokémon." She watched his face go from anger to fret as he looked at the screen. Marcia's smile became a smirk as she heard the first _ping_ of Sebastian's Pokémon-tracking app.

Marcia shoved her fear in a corner of her mind where it seemed less relevant and continued, "In fact, he belongs to a very good friend of mine." She put away her pokénav and held out her hand. "I'm really grateful you took care of him for so long, but don't worry. I'll return him to Lumiose. Unless, that is," she let a deadly serious expression creep onto her face, "you acquired him illegally? In which case, I have to call the police…" She let the threat sink in.

The man's face turned into a sneer and he growled, "Fine!" he pulled Vamp's pokéball out of his pocket and handed it over.

Without another word, he stormed off. Marcia watched him turn a corner then let out a sigh of relief. She crumbled to her knees and took several quivering breaths.

"Oh, crap," she whimpered, "Oh crap oh crap oh _crap_! That was _terrifying!_" Then she looked at the pokéball in her hands and added, "but I did it…" Vamp waddled over and wrapped his wings around her huddled form. He nuzzled her head, conveying gratitude.

Marcia looked up at the noivern and petted his cheek. Something about this whole situation didn't sit right with her. What was he doing in Shalour? Sebastian's parents sent his Pokémon to Lumiose after his funeral. Vamp should've been there with the rest of his team.

Once again, she asked, "What are you doing here?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

_**Autumn: At the Present**_

The first thing Marcia did was check into the Pokémon Center. She got a temporary trainer's license for Unova and they put her up in one of the available rooms.

Then came the hard part: figuring out her next move. If Vamp was in the hands of some vagabond, then where were Sebastian's other Pokémon? Checking the app wielded no results; she figured she was out of range. The most logical thing, she realized, would be to talk to Sebastian's uncle. Surely he would know where his other Pokémon were, right?

There was only one problem: Marcia didn't know anything about Sebastian's uncle. She knew he lived in Lumiose and Paul had assured her he was experienced with Pokémon, but that described a good chunk of Kalos's population. What she really needed was someone who could tell her who the uncle was. Someone who had their finger on the pulse of the Pokémon community in Lumiose…

_I'm going to be a Pokémon professor like my mentors, Professor Juniper and Professor Sycamore._

Of course! The Pokémon Professor! He probably knew _every_ trainer in Lumiose and Marcia knew a friendly intern…

She dug through her purse and found Bianca's business card. Carefully, she punched the number into her Pokénav.

Marcia listened to it ring once, twice. Then a chipper voice greeted, "Hello! Bianca Belle speaking!"

Suddenly, Marcia felt unsure, "Uh, this Marcia."

"Oh! From the ship! He-llo! Do you need help with something?"

"Um, yes…I think my friend's Pokémon might be in trouble. Can you meet me in the Shalour Pokémon center?"

"Really? Oh my God! I'll be right there! Meet me in the lobby! Bye!"

_**Winter: Ten Months Prior**_

"Well, that's it for this season's Cuteness Contests," Marcia sighed as she packed up her things back stage, "You did great, Pablo."

The eevee yipped a happy reply.

"Now all we need is one Cleverness ribbon, two toughness ribbons, three beauty ribbons, and one poké-poisoner off the streets." She sighed again, "I guess we have our work cut out for us." So far, the only things she and Sebastian managed to dig up was the poison used: Seviper venom. Only, the Poisoner used it as an ingested poison.

Which, apparently, was deadlier and harder to treat. The only reason Mimi and Polter survived was because they'd found them quickly and they managed to throw up a good portion of what they'd ingested. Mimi being a steel-type helped some, too.

Then she saw Diana out of the corner of her eye. She looked depressed. Diana had a pretty good season so far and she'd nearly beat Marcia earlier. Was she really so depressed about losing?

"Hey," Marcia called, running after her.

"What do you want, Missy?" Diana snapped.

"I just wanted to say you did great out there. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get the next one." Marcia reached to put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's not that!" Diana barked as she swatted Marcia's hand away.

"Then what's wrong?"

She looked close to tears as she answered, "It's Vinnie…"

"Your skunktank? Is he sick?"

She scoffed and a tear ran down her cheek, "I _wish_! He's… someone killed him."

Marcia felt something churn in her gut, a strange mix of fury and pity, "Poisoning?"

"So you heard about it, too?"

Marcia nodded, "It almost happened to two of Sebastian's Pokémon. We found them just in time to save them."

"Who would do something so cruel?" Diana sobbed. Awkwardly, Marcia hugged her. She didn't know Diana well, but she knew she didn't deserve this.

"A monster," Marcia answered.

_**Autumn: At the Present**_

Marcia was lost in thought when Bianca tapped her on the shoulder. She gasped, startled, until she saw who it was.

"Sorry," Bianca sang, "Didn't mean to spook you." She sat across the table Marcia was already sitting at. The Pokémon Center's lobby was abuzz with activity that made Marcia feel antsy, but she decided to bear it.

"Thanks for coming," Marcia greeted formally.

"Anything for a friend, right?" Bianca replied.

"We just met."

"Friend, potential friend—what's the difference, really? So, what did you need help with?"

Quickly and quietly, Marcia explained, "My friend's Pokémon are supposed to be in Lumiose with his uncle, but today I found his noivern in the hands of some thug. I managed to get him back, but I need to know if the rest of his team is safe. The problem is, I don't know who this uncle _is_. I figured—since you know Professor Sycamore—you could help me track him down."

Bianca seemed to think as she spoke, "Well…it's true Professor Sycamore has access to info on all the trainers in Kalos—for research purposes, obviously—but those files are mostly classified—for privacy's sake—we _could_ check the noivern's pokéball data, but that'll probably only point back to your friend…"

"…Why don't you just call the professor and ask?"

"Um…" Bianca chuckled nervously, "You remember how I lost my room key on the ship?"

"Yeah…"

"Maybe 'lost' wasn't exactly the best word…Maybe a better word would be…" she finished the last part of the sentence very quickly, "at the bottom of the ocean with half the contents of purse including my X-transceiver."

Marcia blinked, "What?"

"You see, there was this Hex Maniac and I didn't see the wet floor sign and then I was trying to get out my pepper spray—"

"Never mind that," Marcia cut off, "Why don't you use my Pokénav?"

"…I'm not good at memorizing things…like phone numbers…or email addresses…"

Marcia groaned and let her head drop to the table.

"Don't worry!" Bianca cheered, "We'll just go to Lumiose and ask the Professor Sycamore in person! He's really nice."

"I guess I was going to Lumiose eventually, anyway…"

"Great! The fastest way to get there would be to fly! Do you have a flying Pokémon? I'll have to get mine out of the PC."

Marcia thought about Vamp, "I guess I do now…"

_**Winter: Ten Months Prior**_

"Are you sure about this?" Sebastian asked as he and Marcia walked across her front yard, "I thought we agreed no to get family involved unless we absolutely had to."

"Diana's Pokémon _died_, Sebastian," Marcia replied seriously, "according to the news, that's the third Pokémon this _week_. The Poisoner is escalating and our investigation's come to a stand-still."

"More crime drama terms?"

"There was a marathon yesterday. But that's beside the point! The point is if there was ever a time to involve genius older brothers, it's now."

"Whatever you say, I guess," he relented gloomily. Marcia noted Sebastian's change in disposition and decided to file it away for later.

Marcia opened the door to her house and shouted, "MAURICE! I NEED YOUR HELP WITH SOMETHING!"

From the basement, her brother replied, "I'M IN MY CAVE!"

Marcia turned to Sebastian and informed, "He's in his office downstairs. Come on." She led the way through their front entry way and past the kitchen. She opened the basement door and flicked on the stairwell's lights.

She ran down the stairs—because she always ran on stairs—and swung right, around a corner. Maurice sat in his spinning chair, monitors, keyboards, and other variety of technology surrounding him. Porygon—and evolutions of—buzzed around the room, passing though on their way from one computer to another.

"What is this?" Sebastian inquired, "An office or mission control?"

"Both," Maurice answered.

"Bro," she greeted, "How do you feel about solving a series of inexplicable and inexcusable crimes?"

He turned his chair dramatically and faced them. He looked like an older, male, bespectacled version of Marcia.

"I think I should activate the parental controls and block all the crime dramas," he answered, "Though that does explain what you two have been up to the past few weeks. Nice to meet you, by the way." This last sentence he addressed to Sebastian.

"We're being careful," Marcia defended calmly, "but we could use your help."

"With what?" he inquired suspiciously.

"With what?" Marcia parroted, "You have eyes _everywhere_!"

"Not _everywhere_," he rebutted, "Fallarbor still resists modern security technology."

"Just tell us what you can figure out!" Marcia snapped.

"Plenty of stuff," he answered with a shrug as he turned back towards the monitors and resumed typing, "More or less. It depends on things like what cameras were on during the attacks, whether or not I had a drone in the area, what I can steal from the police, et cetera."

"Couldn't you get in trouble for that stuff?" Sebastian wondered.

"_Pfft_! I work for the government. I have immunity in most regions. Including this one."

"What do you_ do_ for a living?"

"That's classified."

"Yet you live with your parents?" Sebastian scoffed.

"Nope," he answered curtly.

"He owns the house," Marcia explained, "Our parents work for the Pokémon News Network, so they travel five days out of seven. When Maurice turned eighteen, they decided it would make more sense for him to own the house since he actually takes care of it."

"That sounds tough," Sebastian replied honestly.

"Not really. They used to take us everywhere with them. We got plenty parental attention and traveled all over Hoenn and some parts of Sinnoh."

"We even went to Castelia once," Maurice added.

"As we got older, they left us here for more and more trips. They always meant to take us with them again, but Maurice got his job and I got into Contests…it just became more convenient for everyone the way things are."

"And she isn't just saying that."

"Yeah. Anyway, that's _way _off topic." She turned back toward Maurice, "How long do you need, bro?"

"Should only take a few hours, but I have to finish up some work stuff. So… I'd say…" He looked at a desk clock, "I'll be done around six. Why don't you guys watch a movie or something?"

"Sure. Did you record that old horror movie?"

"Yup."

"Great! See you in a bit."

They trotted up the stairs—Marcia's pace much faster—and started the movie. They ate popcorn and petted their Pokémon as the characters ran and screamed. It caught Sebastian off guard a few times, but Marcia didn't jump once. They mostly joked about the protagonists' decision-making skills—or lack there of—and the improbable death scenes.

Then came a scene where the mom dies in a fire, throwing her son out the window to save his life.

"Oh my god," Marcia mumbled though a mouthful of popcorn. She swallowed and finished, "If you were going to sacrifice your life for your kid, why wouldn't you jump out the window _with _him and use your body to cushion the blow?"

Marcia expected a snarky reply, but Sebastian just muttered, "I'm going to go get some water." Marcia remembered his earlier protests and paused the movie.

She followed him to the kitchen and asked, "Are you alright?"

"Yes," he lied.

"Tell me what's wrong. It's alright."

He sighed, "Do you know…what I'm the most afraid of?"

"No…what is it?"

"My greatest fear is that I'll lose the people closest to me. And I don't just mean that like everyone else does! They say it passively; like they know it'll hurt if it ever happens but don't really mind the thought. No, when I say it I mean I'm afraid it _will_ happen. Because it almost did." He leaned over the sink and stared at the dripping tap.

Marcia put a hand on his shoulder and asked, "What do you mean?"

"When I was eight, my parents and I were on our way to visit my uncle when—out of nowhere—this _massive_ truck t-bones us. Somehow, I woke up in the ambulance with only a few scratches and minor concussion. My parents weren't so lucky. My father and mother were in comas for just over two months. I stayed with my uncle and visited them in the hospital every day. The whole time, I could only think 'What if today is the day they really die?'

"My dad woke up first, a week before my mom. They went through intense physical therapy. There fine today, but my mom is still in a wheelchair. But ever since then, whenever we do something even _remotely_ dangerous I'm suddenly eight again, wondering if my parents are going to die."

"So…you're just worried about me?"

He nodded, "I know we've only known each other for about three months, but you're my best friend. I've never been as close to someone as I've been with you. You're like…like the twin sister I never had! And…I don't know what I'd do without you."

Marcia hugged him and insisted, "I'll be _fine_, I promise."

"You better be," he joked.

Marcia shoved him lightly and laughed, "Come on. Let's finish this stupid movie."

_**Autumn: At the Present**_

As they flew into Lumiose—Bianca leading the way on a Swoobat—Marcia wondered if the wreck actually happened _in_ the bright city. Was the uncle she was trying to find the same one they were visiting that day? The same one he'd lived with while his parents were comatose? She'd have to ask when she found him.

Bianca made a signal to land and they descended. They touched down at Pokémon Center across the street from an impressive-looking building.

"Here we are!" Bianca sang.

"That's the lab?" Marcia indicated the building across the street.

"Sure is! Impressive, isn't it? Wait until you see the inside! Don't tell Professor Juniper I said this, but this lab puts hers to shame. Come on! I called ahead, so Professor Sycamore should be waiting for us."

They recalled their Pokémon and crossed the street with surprising ease. Once inside, Bianca swiped her ID on scanner to get to the elevator and they climbed in.

The silence in the elevator obviously made Bianca feel awkward, but it gave Marcia a chance to collect her thoughts. By the time the elevator doors opened, she knew exactly what she wanted to say.

"Professor Sycamore!" Bianca sang in greeting, "I'm back!"

"Ah! Bianca!" a relatively handsome man with messy dark hair and gray-green eyes greeted her warmly, "If it isn't my favorite intern! And who's your friend here?"

"This is Marcia," she replied, "I told you about her when I called from the pay phone at the Pokémon Center."

"Right. Nice to meet you Marcia, I'm Professor Sycamore." He extended his hand and Marcia shook it. Did she imagine a flash of recognition on his face?

"Nice to meet you, too," she replied with a smile. He gave off a friendly air that wasn't unlike Bianca's. Marcia ignored the flash of emotion.

"Bianca told me about your predicament. If you two will just step into my office, I'll help you find your friend's uncle."

He led them into an office with a grand wooden desk and two open laptops sitting on it. It reminded Marcia of Maurice. She wondered what her brother was up to…

Professor Sycamore reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a box with a brand-new X-Transceiver and tossed it to Bianca. She clumsily caught it as he sat down.

"Thanks Professor," Bianca cheered as she sat on a couch off to the side and tried to rip open the packaging.

"Any time, Bianca," he replied. Then he turned to Marcia and said, "If you tell me a few things about your friend and his Pokémon, then I should be able to figure out who this uncle is. What's your friend's name?" He poised his hands over one of the laptops, ready to type.

Marcia had a harder time saying out loud than she thought she would, "Sebastian Zephyr." How long had it been since she said his name aloud?

His face melted from a friendly smile to something sadder as he muttered, "…Oh…" and lowered his hands.

"Professor? Is something wrong?" Bianca questioned from her perch on the couch.

He seemed to snap out of it and plaster a gloomy version of his smile back on his face as he answered, "Well, yes and no, Bianca."

"Do you know who I'm looking for?" Marcia asked urgently.

"Yes, actually. The uncle you're trying to find is I."

Marcia stood dumbstruck for a minute before rebutting, "No, you can't be. Sebastian never said he was related to a Professor."

"Technically speaking, we aren't. His parents and I have always been good friends and he's always referred to me as 'Uncle Auggie.' I knew you looked familiar. You were at his funeral, weren't you?"

Marcia nodded silently.

Bianca began, "You didn't say…" but let herself trail off.

They were all silent for a moment before Professor Sycamore continued, "And to answer your questions, a week ago someone broke into the lab. They stole nearly every Pokémon here, including Sebastian's. The crooks must've already sold them off on the black market.

"I need to get them back," Marcia shouted before she could think, "Sebastian wouldn't…Sebastian would want to know his team was safe. Why haven't you found them?"

Professor Sycamore rubbed his face with one hand, "I tried. I sent every able-bodied trainer out to scour the streets, I reported it to the police, I even made posters! So far, nothing's turned up. I don't like it any more than you do."

Marcia pulled out her Pokénav and opened the tracking app. She marched closer to the desk and demanded, "Will this help?"

He looked at it and his eyes widened, "They're chipped?"

"I can't get a strong signal on any of them right now, but could it help?"

"The chips could, yes, but not this device. I have a better tracking system downstairs. I can download the information from this program into it and we should be able to find his other four Pokémon."

"I want to find them," Marcia stressed, "I mean…I have to do it. Bianca can come too if she wants but I need to do this."

Sycamore looked her in the eye and—though she wanted to turn away—she held his gaze. In that moment, she felt some sort of understanding pass between them.

"Alright," he conceded, "But Bianca _will_ go with you. I won't send off a minor on a potentially dangerous mission unsupervised. Bianca?"

She jumped to her feet and replied, "Yes sir?"

"Run down stairs and grab the aforementioned tracking device. You know the one?"

"Of course!" and then she scurried off, chirping excitedly, "This is just like the Plasma incident all over again!"


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

_**Winter: Ten Months Prior**_

"Bad news," Sebastian greeted as he climbed through the entrance to Marcia's secret base, "My dad told my mom about the whole 'investigation' thing and she did _not _take it as well as my dad did."

"Did she freak out?" Marcia asked. She was sorting through the information Maurice acquired for them and stuck the things that seemed important on her blackboard. Most of her Pokémon were outside—playing on the island's small beach—but Leif lounged on the thunder mat, leaning against a brick desk.

"Yup," Sebastian confirmed as he sat on the stool next to the brick desk, "I'm grounded."

"You don't _look _grounded," Marcia observed.

"I snuck out. Are you flattered? Be flattered. I've never done this before and now I'm doing it for you."

"Consider me flattered. You aren't worried about getting in trouble?"

"Nope. You've got anything new?"

"Just sorting through the stuff Maurice got us."

"Anything interesting?"

"Not really…but I've been thinking…the saboteur thing seems to make more sense now that we've really looked at it."

"Really? You were so against it earlier."

"Like I said, I've been thinking about it and—I hate to admit it—but the theory does hold its ground. I mean, why else kidnap valuable Contest Pokémon just to kill them? It doesn't make any sense unless you take into account that the Poisoner is gunning for another competitor."

"Doesn't that mean that any Competitor who hasn't been attacked is a suspect?"

"It's a place to start," Marcia answered with a shrug.

Sebastian was silent a moment before he sighed, "I don't like it. I wish we had more to go on."

"Me too. This would be a lot easier if we had something else…"

"No, that's not what I meant. What I mean is…" he sighed again and continued, "There are, what, two hundred Competitors in the Hoenn Circuit? And the only way we can eliminate _any _of them is if their Pokémon get attacked. We _need_ to find a new lead or all we have to go on is Pokémon _dying_."

Marcia thought about it for a moment. She'd never really worried about Pokémon dying before; even the Pokémon Cruelty Prevention League's guilt-trip commercials had always seemed distant and unreal. Now Pokémon were dying horrible deaths right in her backyard and all she could do to stop it was—ironically—wait for more Pokémon to die.

Marcia turned back to the board and agreed, "Yeah. I don't like it either."

_**Autumn: At the Present**_

Marcia couldn't sleep. She was staying on the couch in Bianca's small apartment in the lab's basement. She stared at the ceiling and tried to fall asleep. Mitzi slept sitting up at Marcia's feet. Marcia envied her mawile's easy sleep.

Her head probably didn't swim thoughts like her trainer's. She probably didn't dream of memories—or rather, wisps of shadows of memories—and wake up in cold sweats. She probably didn't worry about everything everyday.

Marcia let out a heavy sigh and checked the time on her pokénav. How could it be only one-thirty? She put the device away and covered her eyes with her arm. She tried to think about other things, like how soon the aide Professor Sycamore sent to Shalour would return with her bike or what Maurice was doing at that moment.

No matter how hard she tried, though, her thoughts always circled back to Sebastian. Sebastian, Sebastian, Sebastian was practically her default emotion. Or maybe something more tangible, like a mournful song stuck in her head.

Either way, she couldn't stand it.

Just when she thought she couldn't stand it anymore, a milky voice rang in her ears.

_The hypno's voice cries out loud,_

_Cries out loud, cries out loud._

_Does it help or hurt?_

_Help or hurt? Help or Hurt?_

_I don't know what to feel_

_So I refuse to heal._

_The darkness sometimes soothes_

_More than the morning tunes,_

_So I won't move_

_This rosy thorn…_

A voice in the back of her head suggested she should be afraid or at least startled, but she ignored it. She was so sick of listening to that fearful voice, so she let herself be soothed to sleep.

_**Winter: Nine Months Prior**_

Marcia stared belatedly at the headline on the latest issue of the _Slateport Post_. In imposing letters, it declared, "Poké-Poisoner Strikes Again!" Marcia didn't like the way it'd sounded; like the Poisoner was some mischievous kid pulling yet another prank.

"Well," she sighed to Sebastian, "This really puts a damper on my day." They were sitting outside in a café near the Slateport Contest Arena. Though the weather was beginning to warm up, it was still frigid and they were the only people bundled up on the café patio. Marcia cradled her hot chocolate and retrieved the paper, putting it neatly beneath his coffee so it wouldn't blow away.

"Sorry to spoil your big day," he replied facetiously. It was, actually a big day. Winning the Hyper-Rank Toughness competition meant she was just two ribbons away from the Grand Contest Spectacular.

"Okay, time for a quick review," Marcia began, "What do we know about the Poisoner?"

"Only five things," Sebastian answered, "One: he only ever strikes on Contest Days. Two: he only kills Contest Pokémon. Three: he only seems to target Pokémon that belong to _good _competitors; the mediocre ones are left alone. Four: he uses seviper venom and dumps Pokémon in random places. And five: he only attacks _in_ Slateport.

Marcia leaned back in her chair, its hard metal pressing into her shoulders through her fluffy coat.

"That's not a lot," she observed.

"Yeah," Sebastian agreed, clearly frustrated, "And none of this helps us narrow down the suspect list."

Marcia was about to say something comforting when a voice cut her off, "Missy? Hey!"

She turned to see the always-chipper Patty—fellow Competitor and chipper as usual—with her beautifly fluttering behind as she waved from the opposite end of the patio.

"Hey Patty," Marcia greeted, "What brings you to this neck of the woods."

"I should ask you that! This is my usual haunt," Patty replied in a friendly manner.

"Mostly sulking," Sebastian answered honestly.

"Sulking?" her face fell as she turned to Marcia, "But you won today."

"Oh. That's right, I forgot you were there…"

For the briefest moment, Marcia saw a flash of… _something_ flash across Patty's face. Then it vanished in a blink and she returned to her default cheerfulness.

"Don't avoid the question," she demanded with mock sternness, "Why are you sulking?"

"That Poisoner guy's got us bummed out," Sebastian answered, "he's killing Pokémon left and right but no one knows anything about him."

"Leave it to the SPD to botch yet another investigation," Marcia scoffed.

"Don't worry," Patty reassured, "I'm sure whoever…he is will stop soon."

"What makes you say that?" Sebastian inquired.

"Well, the Poisoner's only killing Contest Pokémon, right? That means that he'll stop when the season's over. The last Slateport Contest is next week. So he'll stop then."

"I guess you're right," Sebastian admitted.

But Marcia shook her head, "_Soon_ isn't good enough! Someone needs to stop him ASAP and the police have their heads so far up their butts they can't keep up. Meanwhile, more Pokémon are going to die for no reason!"

They were all silent for a moment.

"Not _no _reason…" Patty muttered, staring at her coffee.

"_What?_" Marcia snapped.

"I-I mean…e-every villain has a motive, right? S-so…he _has _a reason, at least to him." Patty began to back away, saying quickly, "OkaywellI'vegottago. Seeyoulaterbye." She bolted.

"You sure scared her off in a hurry," Sebastian noted.

"Yeah. Now I feel bad. I guess I'll have to apologize the next time I see her," Marcia agreed. She looked back towards the paper. She'd been so caught up with the headline before she hadn't bothered to look at the picture. It was a grainy still from a security camera. The Poisoner had grabbed someone from behind. Something about the way he stood seemed off to Marcia.

She moved Sebastian's coffee and looked closely.

"We can add a sixth thing to the list," Marcia informed, shocked.

"What?" Sebastian inquired.

Marcia pointed to the Poisoner's shoes, blurry stiletto heels, "The Poisoner's a girl."

_**Autumn: At the Present**_

Marcia awoke to a shriek and the sound of something breaking. She gasped as she shot up to a sitting position, her heart pounding. Mitzi was already on her feet.

She saw Bianca first, a broken mug of coffee at her feet. Then she followed her gaze to see a familiar hex maniac perched on the desk across the room next to a floating klefki.

Melody.

"What are you doing here?" Marcia demanded, "How did you get in?"

"Locks and doors, doors and locks," she replied, flippantly waving her hand, "They are no good at keeping things out. Especially when you have a key."

As if agreeing, the klefki jingled its keys.

"You're the Hex Maniac from the boat!" Bianca realized, "Hey! That's my key!" She pointed to the klefki.

"Not anymore," Melody chuckled.

"You need to leave! Or I'll…I'll…call the police!"

"I'll leave when the Liar leaves."

"Wh-what?! This is my apartment! You're trespassing."

"Not yours," Melody sang, "You only borrow it."

"Bianca, it's okay," Marcia found herself saying, "I don't think she's going to hurt anything."

"Ah! For once you tell the truth, Liar."

"Why don't you call me by my name?"

"Names are silly things. Better to call you what you actually are."

"Why does she think you're a liar, Marcia?" Bianca asked.

"I don't know," Marcia replied. "I met her on the ship. She called me a liar and then ran off. I saw her again yesterday before we got to Kalos."

"Oh. Well…I guess I should clean this mess up then," she replied, referring to the puddle of coffee and broken mug.

"I'll go talk to the professor," Marcia offered, "after I get dressed." She turned to Melody and added, "I guess you're tagging along?"

"Why of course, Liar," Melody answered with a grin, "Where you go, interesting stories follow." Then she laughed at something only she thought was funny.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

_**Autumn: At the Present**_

"It's very simple," the aide groaned as he explained how to use the tracking device to Bianca for the third time, "It's just like a flashlight!" He held up a small, cylindrical device, "When one of the chipped Pokémon is near, it'll beep. When it beeps, you press _this button_ and point it. The light will come on and change brightness as you head in the right direction. As you get closer, it'll change color. You can use this mini-tablet," he held up a palm-sized touch screen, "for finding the general area of all the Pokémon, but you need to use the dowser for more specific results. Hey! Don't touch that!" 

His last comment he directed toward Melody, who'd started rummaging around some very expensive-looking equipment.

She looked at him with an eerie smile as she deliberately pushed over some kind of screen. It clattered to the floor with no apparent damage, but Melody's strange implication was obvious.

"I don't like you," she informed pleasantly. Then she snickered and pranced out of the room, around a corner.

"Um…" Bianca began, "I'll go keep an eye on her."

"Ya think?" the aide replied.

Marcia vaguely acknowledged the scene going on around her as she inspected her bike and took stock of her things. Her head swirled with three facts: Sebastian's Pokémon were somewhere out there and probably in danger. She was the only one who could bring them back to safety. And Sebastian was dead, because that was _always_ what she thought about.

_**Winter: Nine Months Prior**_

Marcia and Sebastian stood outside the Lilycove Contest Hall, looking at a tourism brochure of the city.

"We have _four hours_ until you have to get ready for your Contest," Marcia groaned, "There's got to be _something _we can do to kill time." She'd come to support her friend in the Cuteness Contest later that day. Sebastian had suggested getting there early to explore the town. Though Marcia had been to Lilycove several times in the past two years, she didn't really know much about the town.

"We could go shopping," Sebastian suggested lamely, "We could get some new furniture for your base."

Without any better ideas, they started in that direction.

"One of these days," Marcia began, "We have to get you your own secret base."

"Why would I need one?" he replied, "I already spend most of my free time at yours. You even gave me a _key_ yesterday. Or did you forget?"

"I didn't forget. You stood out in the rain for _thirty minutes_ waiting for me to get there. What is with you and always needing to get places ridiculously early? Haven't you ever heard of being 'fashionably late?'"

"Firstly, how is being late _ever_ appropriate? And, secondly, I didn't mind. I like the rain."

"Sebastian. We arrived at a Contest venue _four and a half hours early_. You can afford to be a little _less_ time-conscious."

They climbed the stairs up the hill to the department store as Sebastian remarked, "Being early never killed anyone. Besides, this way if I forget something I have plenty of time to go back and get it."

"Why don't you just make sure you get everything before you leave?"

He waved off the last comment as they walked into the department store. They asked the clerk for directions to the floor with secret base decorations and then got in the elevator.

As soon as the doors closed, Sebastian started jumping up and down.

"What are you doing?" Marcia laughed.

"Haven't you ever noticed how it feels weird to jump in an elevator?" he replied with a bouncing smile.

"No." Marcia hopped once and added, "Whoa. That _does _feel weird!" They both resumed jumping and laughing until the elevator _pinged_ and came to a halt. They froze as an old lady with a _gigantic, _gaudy hairstyle stepped in and pressed the button for the next floor up.

Marcia and Sebastian repressed chuckling as the woman checked her watch obliviously. Sebastian mimed fluffing a giant head of hair like the woman's and Marcia snickered, biting her lip to keep from laughing out loud.

Finally, the elevator pinged again and the woman stepped out. The doors shut again and the two resumed jumping and laughing.

"What kind of hair _was_ that?" Marcia laughed.

"Did you see the bird?" Sebastian returned, "Part of her hair was _shaped like a bird_!"

"Oh my god! _How_?!"

They died laughing.

_**Autumn: At the Present**_

"You guys ready to go?" Marcia inquired anxiously.

"I'm always ready and never ready," Melody answered cryptically, "It makes life more interesting."

"I'm definitely ready," Bianca replied as she unlocked her green bike. Marcia noticed it was the same shade as her hat. She turned to the Hex Maniac and asked, "Do you have a bike?"

"Nope."

"How are you supposed to keep up, then?"

"Like this!" She called out a drifblim suddenly. The sudden movement startled Marcia and Bianca. The latter shrieked.

"Um…" Bianca scrutinized, regaining her composure, "I doubt you drifblim is fast enough to keep up with our bikes." She tapped it and it bobbed like a balloon.

Marcia looked at the Pokémon and then got an idea. She pulled a rope out of her bag and tied one end securely around the drifblim and the other to her bike.

"Do you think that'll work?" she asked her travelling companions.

"I guess it seems secure…" Bianca consented.

"Let's find out!" Melody cheered. She threw herself at the Pokémon, letting it wrap its ribbon-like arms around her waist. The two ascended the Lumiose skyline with no difficulty.

"Do you think this is safe?" Bianca inquired nervously.

"Somehow," Marcia replied, "I think she'll be fine."

_**Winter: Nine Months Prior**_

Marcia and Sebastian still hadn't completely recovered from the elevator half an hour later. They were going through Pokémon-themed posters, laughing at some designs while considering others.

"What is this?" Marcia inquired of one poster.

"Who thought it was good idea to put a jynx in a clown costume?" Sebastian demanded.

"_And_ put it on a poster?!" They laughed out loud as they put the poster away.

Marcia thumbed through a few more before pulling out one that featured the legendary Pokémon of Kalos.

"Ooh," she cooed, "This one's cool. What do you think, Kalos boy?"

"It's pretty cool. Reminds me of the stories my dad used to tell me."

Marcia looked at the bird Pokémon, "I've always thought Yveltal was kinda gruesome. I mean, the whole concept of a death Pokémon."

"Not really," Sebastian explained, "It's a common misconception. Yveltal and Xerneas aren't _enemies_, or even opposites. They're like…two sides of the same coin. Yveltal _is _the Pokémon of destruction, but he isn't inherently bad. In fact, he's sometimes good."

"I fail to see how death and destruction is _ever_ a good thing," Marcia rebutted as she looked through the other posters.

"It's hard to explain…It's like…how some forests need to catch on fire before the seeds can spread. You have to let go before you can change or heal."

"I'm not sure I get it."

Sebastian shrugged, "A lot of people don't. It's why a lot of people can't change. Maybe you'll understand some day."

"Hey," Marcia found another poster, "This one's cool." It was a stylized map of the Kalos Region, highlighting some of the major sights.

"That _is_ cool," Sebastian agreed.

"Hey. What part of Kalos are you from? I never asked."

"Here," he pointed to a city decorated with a giant, rosy stone, "Anistar City. It's a very quiet place usually, but every now and then we'd get a group of adventurous tourists or two. Mostly it's only trainers there for the gym."

"I'd like to go there someday. It sounds pretty."

"The entire _region _is pretty, Marcia."

"And Hoenn isn't?" Marcia rebutted with mock indignation.

"It's a different _kind_ of pretty," Sebastian laughed. "Come on. Let's buy this poster."

"It _would_ look good in the base."

They headed to the check out. Sebastian put the poster on the counter before a distracted cashier. She was watching the TV behind her, where the urgent headlines announced "BREAKING NEWS: SLATEPORT PD ARRESTS COMPETITOR FELIX FIERO IN CONNECTION TO POKÉ-POISONINGS!"

"Oh my god," Marcia groaned, "They're such idiots!"

"How can they _not _know what we do at this point?!" Sebastian demanded, "There's no way two teenagers are better equipped than an entire _police force_."

"Ugh!" Marcia turned and walked toward the elevator.

"Where are you going?" Sebastian called after her.

"To clear Felix's name!" she grumbled.

_**Autumn: At the Present**_

Marcia, Bianca, and Melody's first stop was Couriway Town. Bianca was kind—and talkative— enough to detail the entire route for Marcia, including the fact that they'd be passing through Sebastian's home town.

"Maybe we should stop for lunch," Bianca suggested.

"I'd rather get to Dendemille before it rains," Marcia replied. The sky looked dreary and the humidity almost thick enough to swim through. It smelled like a storm was coming.

"The forecast says it isn't supposed to rain until tomorrow."

"I just don't want to risk it. It'll be a lot harder to pull Melody and Drifblim along if it starts to storm. We'd be stranded."

"Well…it's just…um…"

Marcia had a sinking suspicion that Bianca knew something she didn't. Marcia interrogated, "_Bianca_."

"I might've forgotten to eat breakfast."

Marcia sighed. She didn't want Bianca to pass out from lack of food. How would she deal with that?

She sighed and relented, "Alright, but don't take to long."

"Yay!"

They parked their bikes next to a crumbling building and reeled in Melody and Drifblim. Bianca and Marcia pulled out food from their bags to eat, but Melody picked lum berries off a nearby tree.

Bianca apparently valued the ability to not talk with her mouth full and thus ate in silence. Melody hummed her usual song loudly, background music to Marcia's thoughts.

_**Winter: Nine Months Prior**_

"Do you not see that?" Marcia shouted at the Slateport detective as she pointed at one of the fuzzy stills from the last poisoning, "What about that?" she pointed to another, "Or that? Do you know what _those_ are?"

"Feet," the young detective replied tersely.

"They're _heels_," Marcia answered, "_High heel shoes_. So unless Felix is secretly a drag queen in his free time, there's _no way_ that's him."

"That's purely circumstantial," another detective observed.

Marcia groaned. It'd taken her a whole hour to get back from Lilycove and if she didn't leave soon, she'd miss the beginning Sebastian's Contest. Then she got an idea.

"Then how about this," Marcia suggested as she rifled through her purse, "Let's see if your suspect can even _walk _in heels, much less run." She pulled out a pair of strappy heels and handed them to the officer.

A female detective stepped forward and took the heels, saying, "_I, _for one, think that's a _great _idea." She muttered something under her breath about arresting people "willy-nilly" as she walked towards lock-up. The young detective followed.

A few minutes later, they returned with an un-handcuffed Felix and Marcia's heels.

"Sorry again for the inconvenience, Mr. Fiero," the female detective said to Felix.

"Tell that to reputation," Felix muttered as he walked toward Marcia, "You're the one who saved me, Missy?"

"Me and my heels." She felt bad for Felix. They probably only suspected him because his partner Pokémon was his prized seviper. He was grumpy sometimes, but he'd helped her out a bit with one of her earlier contests last year. He wasn't a bad person.

"Thanks. I owe you one."

"It was nothing. Are you still going to compete today?"

"If these morons give me back Sevy in time. What about you?"

"No Beauty Contest this week. I'm still supposed to be in Lilycove, though."

"Here. Let me call my sister. She can fly you to Lilycove. Can I borrow your Pokénav?"

"Sure."

_**Autumn: At the Present**_

A cold raindrop interrupted Marcia's thoughts. In seconds, they were caught in the middle of a downpour.

"Eek!" Bianca shrieked.

"Haha!" Melody sang, "Rain! Rain!" And started spinning around.

"Come on!" Marcia groaned as she grabbed her bag, "Let's take shelter here!" She walked her bike under the old building's crumbling roof. Bianca followed quickly as Melody ignored them and danced in the rain.

"I'm sorry," Bianca sighed, "You were right. We'd be in Dendemille right now if I hadn't insisted on stopping."

Marcia was annoyed with her, but tried to remain calm. "It's fine," she lied, "It's…probably just a cloud burst. It'll pass soon enough, right?"


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

_**Winter: Nine Months Prior**_

"And…there!" Sebastian exclaimed as he finished hanging up the poster they'd bought two days before.

Marcia muttered something vaguely; she wasn't paying attention. She was staring at the photos on the blackboard on the opposite side of her secret base. She dissected each photo, hoping to glean some new information. A suspect list hung next to the photo she was looking at.

With Maurice's help, they managed to learn some of the Poisoner's traits. She was about five-foot-four with long hair that she often wore up. She was a slight build, but most girls in Slateport were. She was definitely a Competitor. The one night she'd worn heels, she'd worn a pokétch with a contest app open. The pokétch was a device that Competitors in Hoenn had recently adopted from their Sinnoh counterparts; it was an easy and convenient way to keep track of a contest Pokémon's stats and score.

"You know," Sebastian mused as he joined her by the blackboard, "I don't understand why the Contest League doesn't just cancel all contests in Slateport."

"Several reasons," Marcia answered with a shrug, "but the main one is for Competitors like Patty."

"Patty? What do you mean?"

"Hoenn is a big region," Marcia began, "with lots of wilderness and—sometimes—dangerous Pokémon. It's not unheard of that parents will restrict—or even outright ban—all travel outside their town. Even with Pokémon. That's the case with Patty; her parents are too scared to let her leave Slateport until she's proven her Pokémon are strong enough.

"Anyway, a while back they wanted to renovate the Vanderturf Contest Hall. The renovations took longer than expected, so the League just figured they'd cancel or postpone the Vanderturf contests. But this one family made a huge stink because they didn't want their kids—they were all Competitors—to leave Vanderturf any more than they had to. So now the Contest League has some kind of rule that states they need to have at _least_ two of all Contest categories at every rank in every city with a hall."

"That seems overly complicated."

"It really isn't. Though I heard that the Contest League _has _cancelled or relocated all unnecessary contests in Slateport."

They were silent for a moment. Marcia started at the Slateport Contest schedule on the board. She'd marked out all the dates the League had cancelled with a black marker.

Finally, Sebastian asked, "Are there really people who aren't allowed to leave their town?"

"Yeah. My mom was like that; my grandparents never let her go anywhere until she turned eighteen. I can't imagine it though."

"Neither can I." They both turned and looked at the Kalos map/poster Sebastian had just hung up.

"Though I've never been outside Hoenn," Marcia admitted.

Sebastian instantly perked up, "I'll tell you what," he picked up a pen and walked over to the map, "One day, you and I'll go to Kalos and I'll show you all the sights. Every time I think up somewhere to visit, I'll put it on…" he started writing on Anistar, "this map."

"Is that a promise?" Marcia replied with a smile.

"That," Sebastian turned to face her, "is a guarantee."

_**Autumn: At the Present**_

Marcia examined that same map now, staring at the first town he'd marked. His familiar handwriting promised, "1246 Sea Court—My Childhood Home."

"It's been, like, an hour," Bianca groaned, "_Oh_, I hope the ceiling doesn't leak. I hate the rain!"

Marcia looked out into the storm, "I don't mind it that much. I'm just worried we won't make it to Couriway before whoever has Sebastian's Pokémon moves on."

"I'm _so_ sorry," Bianca repeated.

Marcia sighed. Melody copied the breathy sound so exactly that it was eerie. Instinctively, Marcia looked over to see the Hex Maniac copying her exact posture, even pretending to hold a map.

"What are you doing?" Marcia asked her.

"What are you doing?" Melody replied in the same tone. "What are you doing?" she repeated, changing her voice but not her tone.

"Okay…"

"Okay…"

Marcia looked back toward her map and checked the tracking app the aide had programmed onto her Pokénav. Four blips inched across Kalos, heading in different directions. One stood still…for now. She wondered which Pokémon it was.

She remembered hearing some Hex Maniacs had psychic abilities. She was about to ask Melody, but she turned her head to see the strange girl had vanished once more.

Marcia turned back to her Pokénav. After a few seconds, it locked. In the darks screen, she saw a figure looming over her reflection.

She didn't even have time to grab a pokéball before the figure grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back. A sack went over her head as she struggled. Panic gripped her as her attacker somehow bound her arms together. From the other side of her panic, she heard Bianca shout.

Suddenly she couldn't breathe, she couldn't think.

"Nononononono_NOOOOOO!_" she heard herself shriek. She shoved against her attacker and managed to knock him or her over, but she toppled herself with them. She flailed in an animalistic manner; what else could she do?

She heard a loud _thud_ as something hit the ground. There were shouts from unfamiliar voices and a roar. She could hear pokéballs opening and the cries of equally as unfamiliar Pokémon.

Her attacker managed to roll her over and sat on her chest.

"Hold still, you brat," a female voice spat.

The rhythm of something large running approached and, suddenly, the weight was gone.

"Marcia, are you okay?" Bianca's voice inquired. She reached for Marcia, and the bound girl jumped. "It's okay," Bianca assured, "It's just me. Let me untie you…"

She quickly freed Marcia. Marcia immediately took off the sack covering her head and tossed it aside. Behind Bianca was a giant Emboar.

Dumbstruck, Marcia nodded, "Yeah. I'm fine." She looked around and saw seven punks surrounding them with various Pokémon. "Where did they all come from?"

"I-I don't know. Downstairs?"

Marcia took a breath and shoved the fear in her throat down as far as she could. It wasn't very far.

She took an inventory of the Pokémon types surrounding her and called out Dexter. The breloom immediately recognized the dire situation and braced for attack.

"See that sharpedo?" Bianca whispered.

"Got it," Marcia replied, glad for the guidance. "Dexter! Mega drain on the sharpedo!"

Dexter cried out and started leeching the water-type's health. Somehow it managed to hang on and retaliated with crunch. Dexter dodged the move, but a pangoro and a scrafty were waiting, ready to attack.

"Low sweep!" Marcia called. Somewhere behind her, Bianca and Emboar were caught up in their own struggle.

Dexter kicked out and knocked the two dark-types flat on their backs. The scrafty instantly fainted, but the pangoro was stronger.

A punk girl called out some attack. Dexter barely managed to dodge the pangoro's blow. The scrafty's trainer called out a Crawdaunt.

Marcia swore under her breath. The pangoro went in for another attack, but this time Emboar—appearing from nowhere—caught the blow.

"Don't worry," Bianca assured. "I'm pretty sure we can take out this pangoro if you can protect us from those water types."

"What about the others?" Marcia questioned urgently.

"Don't worry," Bianca assured as Marcia turned to look. A musharna floated in front of their other adversaries, obviously keeping them asleep. "Musharna's taking care of them for a bit. Let's just focus on these guys."

"You put my boyfriend to sleep?!" the Punk Girl with the pangoro demanded, "Imma get you for that one, blondie."

"Puh-_lease_!" Bianca replied, "If you knew _half_ of what Emby and I've been through, you would be quaking in your impractical boots."

"Looks like it's you and me then, girlie," the punk boy with the water-types chuckled to Marcia.

Marcia couldn't conjure anything witty to retort, so she just pulled out another pokéball and called, "Leif! Go!"

For one tense moment, the four and their Pokémon stood, ready for battle.

Then the Punk Boy called out, "Sharpedo! Aqua Jet on Emboar! Crawdaunt! Razor shell!"

"Leif!" Marcia called, "Quick guard! Dexter! Knock Crawdaunt back with low sweep!"

The sharpedo lunged forward, coated with water. Leif blocked it with no issues. Crawdaunt slashed toward Emboar, but Dexter kicked at its base and it tripped.

"Emboar!" Bianca shouted, "Brick break!"

"Pangoro!" the Punk Girl called back, "Hammer Arm!"

Both Pokémon rushed towards each other. Emboar easily blocked the pangoro's attack with one arm and threw his foe to the ground. He followed through with the brick break and stepped back.

The pangoro struggled to his feet as Leif blocked two aqua jets from both opposing Pokémon. Dexter hit both Pokémon with a mega drain. Sharpedo fainted.

"Yes! Good job, Dexter!" Marcia cheered.

"Pesky breloom," the Punk growled. "I'll show you with an Aerial Ace!"

Before Marcia or Dexter could react, the Crawdaunt's attack hit. The grass/fighting-type fainted. Marcia could feel panic bubbling in her chest.

"Ha!" the Punk cheered, "Why don't you give that Emboar the same treatment, Crawdaunt?"

The Pokémon roared and charged and Leif took the incentive to block it.

"Leif!" Marcia cried. The Pokémon barely managed to stay standing. Suddenly, Marcia couldn't breathe.

Then Mitzi appeared by her side and placed her paw in Marcia's. Suddenly, the rain stopped and the sky cleared like a nearby Pokémon used sunny day.

Marcia smiled; an avalanche of confidence buried her panic. She listened as Bianca ordered Emboar to use flare blitz.

"Solar beam," Marcia ordered as if she were standing on a contest stage.

Leif absorbed the new light surrounding them; the leaves on his arms and head began to glow. Then, with a battle cry, he let loose a beam light. It blasted through the Crawdaunt and the wall behind him, barely missing the Punk.

"Alright!" Marcia cheered. "Good going, Leif!"

She turned to see Pangoro lying on the ground, Emboar standing over it.

"We did it!" Bianca rejoiced.

"Now let's get out of here before the rest of them wake up."

Bianca was about to reply when a voice cut her off, "Not. So. Fast."

They turned to see the other five punks and their Pokémon had woken up. Musharna had fallen to the ground, knocked out.

"Oops," Bianca muttered, recalling her fainted Pokémon.

"Now," the punk leader began, "The way I see it, your Pokémon don't got much fight left in them and we're well-rested thanks to you. So, hand over everything you've got or else."

"Or else what?" Marcia bluffed, squeezing Mitzi's paw for dear life.

The Punk laughed, "What d'ya think? We've got you outnumbered five to two."

A warm-milk voice sang a correction, "Three…"

The punks suddenly turned to see Melody standing behind them, a gourgeist by her side.

"M-Mel?" a punk stuttered.

"Why are you trying to steal from my friends?" she inquired pleasantly, cocking her head slightly to the side and grinning eerily. She took a step forward and the Punks shouted with fear and jumped back.

"W-we didn't kn-know they were _your_ friends, honest, Mel," the leader swore.

"Excuses, excuses," Melody sang. Her face darkened through her persisting grin, "I _hate_ excuses."

"Now, d-don't be hasty, Mel," a girl begged, "No need to call the Big Guy."

Melody's head snapped toward the girl, "What an interesting idea, Jeanne. Maybe I _should_ call friend…" She took another step forward and the gang took another leap backwards.

"P-please don't!" their leader groveled.

"We'll do anything!"

"We'll be good!"

"Don't hurt us!"

Melody seemed to consider this for a moment. Then she said, "Okay."

The gang sighed with relief.

Then Melody pointed the Pangoro's trainer and said, "But I want your shoes."

"Wh-what?" the Punk Girl replied.

"Give me your shoes," Melody ordered.

"B-but… they won't even fit."

"Dear god, Zoya! Just give her your shoes!" someone shouted.

"Okay! Okay!" She hopped on one foot as she took off her shoes and then repeated the process with the other foot. She held out the boots cautiously. Melody took them with a polite, singing thanks and then walked out into the sunlight. The gourgeist followed.

"What was that?" Bianca whispered.

Marcia looked out after the Hex Maniac and squeezed Mitzi's paw as she answered, "I have no clue."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

_**Autumn: At the Present**_

"…And then Emboar was _smash! _And Pangoro was out like a light!" Bianca recounted through her X-transceiver to Professor Sycamore.

Marcia lay on the couch in the Dendemille Pokémon Center's lobby as Melody played with her zorua and Bianca reported the day's events.

"I see," Sycamore nodded, "Is Marcia with you? I'd like to speak with her."

Upon hearing his request, Marcia sat up with a sigh and pushed herself off the couch. She walked over to where Bianca stood. The intern held out the wrist-device and Marcia looked into it.

"Hello, Professor," she greeted formally.

"Hello, Marcia," he returned, "If what Bianca said is true—and I _know_ she isn't exactly prone to lying—then you may need a little more…help than I thought."

"How do you _expect _me to act in a situation like that?" Marcia demanded, "We were being _attacked_!"

"…That's not what I meant, Marcia," he replied calmly. "I believe you acted well considering everything. You even managed to overcome your fear—"

"But I _didn't_!" Marcia interrupted. "I was afraid! I was scared senseless the _whole time!_ I didn't overcome _anything_! If it hadn't been for Melody and her gourgeist, I'd be _screwed _right now!" Melody struggled to hold her tears, "I'm _useless_!"

They were all silent for a moment, even Melody.

Finally, Sycamore sighed, "If that's what you believe, then it only confirms what I'd already decided. I'll send you something with Vamp through the PC. I believe it could help you with your search…maybe even with your morale."

Marcia stepped away to use the PC. She opened the box system to see Vamp situated in her otherwise empty boxes. She maneuvered the system to withdraw the item he held. When she looked at it, she gasped.

It was Sebastian's watch, keystone intact.

Marcia rushed back to the Professor.

"I-I can't take this!" she protested, "It belongs with Sebastian's family or his team!"

"Marcia," Professor Sycamore addressed, "Did Sebastian ever tell you I watched the Contest you two competed in together?"

"No…"

"Well, I did. And you did something incredible. Sebastian didn't know this, but you shouldn't have been able to use his keystone to mega-evolve your Pokémon. It's something unheard of. Keystones attach themselves to their users; they shouldn't be able to work for anyone else until their owner passes away. But _you_ used Sebastian's keystone while he was _still alive_—while he was standing right next to you!

"I don't claim to be certain, but I believe it means yours and Sebastian's souls were so inexorably linked that you were almost two parts of a whole—at least to the keystone."

"I…" Marcia stuttered, "I don't understand. What do you mean?"

"I'm not completely sure," he admitted, "but at the very least, I know it means that Sebastian's Keystone should be yours now. I only wish I had an actual mega stone to give. If you find Mimi, I'm sure Sebastian wouldn't have minded if you borrowed hers again."

Marcia stared at the watch in her hands again, taking in everything it meant. It suddenly felt very heavy.

Regardless, she strapped it to her wrist and said, "Thank you, Professor."

_**Spring: Eight Months Prior**_

"This is so frustrating!" Marcia roared, tugging at her own hair. Once again, they were in her secret base and getting nowhere with their case.

"Do you know what the definition of insanity is?" Sebastian asked suddenly. He was lying on the rug, staring through some branches.

"What?" Marcia replied, deciding to humor him.

He sat up, "Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result."

"What else do you suggest we do?"

He stood up and answered, "Plan a stake-out."

"What? You mean, like, in the cop shows?"

"Yeah, exactly. We catch the Poisoner in the act. Lay a trap."

Marcia turned toward the Contest schedule and mused, "It _could _work…but I'd have to get my last two Beauty Ribbons before the next Slateport Contest. The next—and last one—they're having there this season is the Hyper Rank Beauty Contest."

"And you still haven't gotten those last two ribbons," Sebastian agreed with a nod.

"_Or_," Marcia realized, "not."

"What are you saying?" Sebastian replied skeptically.

"It's safe to assume—since the Poisoner's a Competitor—she's doing this because she wants to eliminate the competition. If I compete in the Slateport Contest, I could be bait!"

"What?!" Sebastian exclaimed, "No way! We are _not _doing that!"

"No, listen," Marcia explained, "this might be our only chance to actually _catch_ this crazy girl!"

"I don't _care_! I'm not going to agree to you putting yourself at risk for the sake of something the police could _easily _do themselves."

"They _can't _do it themselves and you _know _that," Marcia argued, "That's why _we've_ been doing their job for them this whole time! Besides, even if _they _were going to do it, they'd still have to use a competitively viable opponent—someone the Poisoner would see as a threat—and I would still be the best contender!"

"Let me do it, then!" Sebastian rebutted, "I'm _just _as 'competitively viable' as you are!"

"But you've already won all the ribbons you need to compete in the Grand Championship! We have to assume the Poisoner will be smart enough to suspect something if you compete in an extra contest for no apparent reason."

"No! I don't think you should do this!"

Marcia took a deep breath and stepped forward, "Listen," she placed a hand on his shoulder, "I know you're worried about something happening to me. But I _promise _this end like that car accident did; you won't be sitting helpless, hoping I won't die. We'll be smart about this, careful. We have _two whole months_ to plan. You and our Pokémon will be right by my side every step of the way; we'll even get Maurice to back us up. Nothing will happen to me."

Sebastian looked into her eyes defiantly before he saw she was right. The resistance melted away and he pulled her into a hug.

"I hope you're right," he muttered into her shoulder.

_**Autumn: At the Present**_

It was almost midnight and, as Marcia laid awake, she stared at the gleaming silhouette of Sebastian's watch. Dendemille's Pokémon Center wasn't one of the nice ones with dorm-like rooms for trainers to stay in, so the few trainers staying the night slept on the lobby furniture and floor.

She wondered what Sebastian would say to her now, after seeing her so pathetic and useless. After seeing her so far from home—sleeping on couch—with no idea what she was doing.

"What am I even doing?" she muttered, "Why can't I do anything right?"

"Don't say that," Bianca's voice, even quiet, cut through the silence. Marcia started, she hadn't realized her travelling companion was still awake. "It isn't true."

"That's easy for you to say," Marcia quipped.

"Well, yes it is," Bianca admitted as she rolled onto her side to face Marcia from the floor, "but not because I say it flippantly or I'm only trying to make you feel better. It's easy because…I know_ exactly_ how you feel."

"What do you mean?" Marcia inquired curiously.

"When I was little," Bianca began, "I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life: I was going to travel Unova with my two best friends and we'd be the three best Pokémon Trainers in the region. But as I grew, so did my trepidations. I mean, how was I—this silly, clumsy, scatter-brained girl—supposed to look after herself and six Pokémon while traversing places I'd never been before, fending off hostile trainers, and not burdening her friends? Not to mention training those six Pokémon and beating gym leaders!

"So, I grew hesitant. All I knew was that I wanted to be near my friends and my Pokémon. And as I lost battle after battle, burdened my friends time after time, and nearly gave up more times than I could count I became discouraged. I thought I was as useless as they come.

"But—thanks to my friends and my Pokémon—I didn't give up. I kept pushing forward and I found that, with the more distance I put between my hometown and myself, the more I learned about who I am.

"Sure, I was silly and clumsy and scatter-brained, but those weren't necessarily _bad _things—they were just parts of who I am. And every day on my journey, I learned something new about myself; whether it was as small as a new food I liked or as big as my current career path. Some days, I feel like I'm _still_ learning about myself. And one thing I learned is that there was always something I could do to help—I was never _really _useless.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is this: you may not know what you're doing right now, you may not feel strong right now, but as long as you keep going—keep pushing forward—you'll figure things out one way or another. Maybe, like me, you'll find that the more space you put between who you _think _you are and who you _really _are, the better you'll be able to find yourself. Because that's what this is _really _about, isn't it?"

Marcia was silent. For the person Bianca appeared to be, she was _very_ insightful.

"But what if I don't find myself?" Marcia whispered, feeling a single tear slide down her cheek, "What if there's nothing left of me? Of who I _really_ am?"

Bianca was quiet for just a moment, as if pondering the question before she answered, "Then decide who you want to be and _make_ yourself that person."

"Then…who should I be?" Marcia whimpered.

"I don't know," Bianca answered, "I can't decide that for you. That's something you have to find out yourself."


End file.
